In 1988, the Chicago public school system decentralized, granting parents and communities significant resources and authority to reform their schools in dramatic ways. To track the effects of this bold experiment, the authors of "Organizing Schools for Improvement" collected a wealth of data on elementary schools in Chicago. Over a…

What constitutes quality in early childhood settings, and how can it best be measured with today's widely used tools and promising new approaches? Find authoritative answers in this book, a must-have for high-level administrators and policymakers as more and more states adopt early childhood Quality Rating and Improvement Systems. The most…

Five phases for establishing and improving Pre-K-12 comprehensive guidance and counseling programs serve as the organizational framework for this enduring, influential textbook written for counselor educators and their students, school leaders, practicing school counselors, and state or district supervisors. The fifth edition of this bestseller…

This document reports on some student impact results of the Thirteen College Curriculum Program (TCCP). The TCCP is a major effort in intervention and reform in the higher education of black Americans generated in predominantly black colleges. The goals were to reduce attrition rates by improving the quality of instruction at freshman and…

This volume contains four sections corresponding to the four categories in which programs were originally submitted to the National Council of Instructional Administrators for its Annual Exemplary Initiatives Awards presented at the annual American Association of Community Colleges held in April 1999 at Nashville, Tennessee. Section 1, "Award…

A manual for trainers of development workers and change agents in the third world provides guidelines for evaluation of development training programs. Chapters define evaluation, present a general model of development, and discuss evaluation in development training programs. Designing training systems for development workers and change agents,…

The format of this book addresses the most salient questions administrators, school board members, and community stakeholders need to ask to ensure academic and fiscal accountability, providing definitions, background information and the current research. Readers will be provided with sufficient knowledge to effectively question the financial…

Why do secondary schools follow the practice of having student assemblies? What are these assemblies expected to accomplish? Who should be involved in planning them? What types of programs best suit educational, cultural, and informational purposes? How can systematic evaluation or appraisal of student assemblies be achieved? These and similar…

This handbook is designed to assist those who administer kindergarten reading programs. Although its primary focus is upon the role of the principal, the handbook also contains ideas for kindergarten teachers. The first chapter provides background information about the place of reading in the kindergarten and offers some insights into various…

Based on the work of the National Council on Research in Child Welfare (NCRCW), this handbook is designed to help social service agency executives cope with changing times for child welfare agencies, strengthen traditional services to meet today's needs, and analyze and plan for the future. The manual aims to demystify quality improvement theory…

This book is based on the understanding that fostering a sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world is important to the development of young children and the preservation of planet Earth. It is also based on the belief that experiences children have early in life impact the attitudes and behaviors they carry with them throughout their…

Complete your review of where science education in the U.S. is heading with this wide-ranging look at secondary-level science curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Through lively examples of classroom practice, interviews with award-winning science teachers and science education experts, and a thorough review of the research, discover how…

This monograph describes, step-by-step, a coordinated system for involving former high school students, graduates, and transfer students in the evaluation of educational programs and services in American schools overseas. Although the system has been field-tested in an overseas setting, its use by schools within the United States requires only a…

Evaluability assessment is a descriptive and analytic process intended to produce a reasoned basis for proceeding with an evaluation of use to both management and policymakers. It was jointly developed by the members of the program evaluation group of the Urban Institute between 1968 and 1978. The approach begins by obtaining management's…

Noting that volunteer programs succeed only with careful forethought and maintenance, this book is designed to provide information necessary to create and operate a successful volunteer program in an elementary school setting. Steps in thinking about volunteers in innovative ways, recruitment, training, maintaining program effectiveness, and…