In a 2012 paper for the Center for American Progress, "The State of Evaluation Reform," Patrick McGuinn (Drew University) identified the opportunities and challenges facing education agencies in Race to the Top (RTTT) grant-winning states as they prepared for the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems. The 2012 study undertook…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

Engineering education directly supports the nation's capacity for economic growth, infrastructure renewal, and security, as well as environmental and human health. Numerous reports have recommended federal support to advance our understanding of how students learn, how faculty teach, and how teaching and learning are assessed. The U.S. National…

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV)" reinforces a longstanding federal commitment to supporting career and technical education (CTE). Although federal contributions account for only a fraction of total state and local spending on CTE, federal policy has had, and continues to have, a large…

This report describes the formation of the Literacy Coalition of Harrisburg, which sought to allow for the pooling of resources, elimination of service duplication, and establishment of a referral system. Chapter I focuses on activities prior to submitting a grant proposal and includes correspondence. Chapter II covers writing and submitting the…

We analyze a multi-campus collaboration in a Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign to demonstrate that a well-managed public benefits campaign, associated with broader advocacy-based community partnerships, can result in positive outcomes for the community that include measurable benefits for clients, data needed to make policy and administrative…

This article describes a design partnership that investigated how to integrate Google Earth, remotely sensed satellite and aerial imagery, with other instructional resources to investigate ground cover and land use in diverse middle school classrooms. Data analysis from the implementation study revealed that students acquired skills for…

Since its creation in 1988, the sole mission of the agency PennSERVE has been to make community service the common expectation of all Pennsylvania's citizens. Using state funds, PennSERVE initiated a school service learning (SL) grant program and funded a total of 35 school and community-based SL programs between 1989 and 1991 in grades K-12, the…

Reports on the development and implementation of a self-study process at the California University of Pennsylvania library. Use of the results by the State System of Higher Education as well as other accrediting organizations is described, academic library standards are discussed, and benefits of a program review are considered. (four references)…

In 2000 and 2001, the Team Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board (Team PA WIB) and its partners worked jointly to address Pennsylvania's workforce needs and respond to the need of its customers through new initiatives, new partnerships, and new strategies. The Team PA WIB and its partners continued implementation of the state's vision to create…

This document contains the Pennsylvania Model Individualized Written Program Plan (IWPP) for vocational rehabilitation facilities and accompanying resource manual. The first part provides the IWPP form, which consists of a cover sheet, goal sheet, and performance notes; instructions for completing it; and an example of a completed form. An…

The Pennsylvania State Coalition for Adult Literacy's Building Communities for Learning (BCL) Project was conducted to improve the delivery of adult basic and literacy education services through interagency collaboration and community-based planning at the local level. The project awarded community-based planning grants to locales through a…

Early state and local progress toward implementation of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) was reviewed. Data were collected through visits to selected sites in Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Vermont and a 90-item Workforce System Information and Evaluation (WSIE) data collection form. The following aspects of WIA…

Because family literacy programs' success depends on strong relationships between family literacy programs and Head Start partners, a series of focus groups were convened to identify ways of strengthening cooperation between Pennsylvania's family literacy and Head Start programs. The six focus groups sites represented a mix of Pennsylvania's…

This document examines emerging issues and opportunities for community-based organization (CBO) involvement in welfare reform. The document begins with a brief section of background information on past CBO involvement in helping families move from welfare to work. The next section answers policy questions pertaining to the following issues: (1)…