This guide was created to help district leaders understand the benefits and drawbacks of the four-day school week, assess their district's readiness to make the switch, and evaluate the results of implementing the new schedule. This guide begins with an overview of common goals and outcomes for the four-day school week. It then provides a set of…

The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) periodically undertakes research projects to keep themselves and the higher-education community in general, informed about current and emerging institutional practices. College completion rates, and how to improve them, have been in the forefront of the higher…

The process of conducting peer interviews has not been widely reported on as a participatory method. Youth gardens are known to support individual and community health and well-being. Producing for the Future utilized the principles of community-based participatory research within a gardening and microenterprise program for low-income youth. In…

The evidence-based parent training intervention known as Parent Management Training-the Oregon Model (PMTO) is one particularly well-supported treatment approach for addressing child behavioral problems. Yet, there remains a need to further examine how this intervention promotes change. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory…

This executive summary presents the broadest look yet at a growing trend in America's cities: the emergence of city-led efforts to build comprehensive afterschool and out-of-school time (OST) systems that meet the needs of children and youth in their communities. Mayors and other municipal officials who have demonstrated leadership in this area…

A community school is a place and a set of partnerships connecting a school, the families of students, and the surrounding community. A community school is distinguished by an integrated focus on academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, and community development. The community school strategy is central to efforts…

Oregon's educational needs were identified through 120 in-depth interviews with the general public, educators, students, and dropouts. The result of these interviews was a list of 27 critical needs. An interview instrument was developed around these critical needs, and was administered to a statewide sample of the population of Oregon who…

Progress of Oregon's State Prekindergarten Program (SPP) during its first 3 months of program operation is reported. Serving mostly low-income, 3- and 4-year-old children, the SPP offers health, nutrition, education, and social services to children and their families. Parent involvement and education are important program components. This progress…

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) sent a research team to Western Oregon University (WOU) on November 17-18, 2008, to conduct interviews with individuals who play important roles in the university's teacher preparation program. These interviews, along with additional materials provided by WOU and identified by the AED research team,…

A study of outcomes of child protection services for children and families in Oregon investigated the congruence between parental reports and data from case records, services parents perceived to be most helpful, and the capacity of protection services for future protection. (BB)

The documents enclosed in this report provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the progress made in developing a network organization capable of supporting nanoscience education for the public on a national scale. There is a logic to the studies that were done and to the reports that are included in this notebook. The following are the…

The purpose of this study was to examine exemplary communication efforts of 12 selected outstanding schools in the United States. The methodology employed was case study methodology supplemented by interviews with key educational administrators. The results show unusual and outstanding ways that schools communicate with parents and the public, as…