This report describes the final evaluation of a condensed work schedule, the Summer 2009 4-Day Work Week (S4-DWW), adopted by The School Board of Broward County, Florida. The goal for the program was to close the entire district for 1 day each week to reduce utility costs. Except for a few cases, district schools and offices were closed on Fridays…

To provide a safer learning environment in Broward County (Florida) Public Schools, secondary school students have become involved in a crime- and drug-prevention program called Youth Crime Watch. Structured as a school-based extracurricular activity, this program provides a forum for discussing drug and crime prevention, establishing…

Teachers from 20 schools in Spring Independent School District in Houston, Texas, are attempting to solve students' learning difficulties by using a study-team process. Teams are changing instructional practices to motivate students to read, addressing individual student cases to improve language expression, and assessing different methods to help…

Describes Dade County (Florida) Public Schools' evaluation of its 1991-92 Professional Orientation Program. Generally, the program's major components were being implemented appropriately. Beginning teachers were favorably impressed with the support teams and the program itself, except for the training videotapes and enrollment paperwork. The…

Examines the status of Broward County (Florida) Public Schools high school students, who must satisfy the district's algebra requirement in order to graduate. Data indicate that the majority of district students are meeting the new, higher standards; 80% of seniors in school year 1998-99 had previously completed the algebra requirement. (MLH)

Describes the Broward County (Florida) Research and Evaluation Department's assessment of a Sylvan Learning Systems remedial reading program employed in two district schools during 1993-94. Sylvan staff adequately equipped both sites, appropriately used diagnostic tests for placing students, implemented motivation and direct-instruction…

Discusses results of an evaluation of the conflict-resolution/student-mediation program in region II of the Dade County (Florida) Public Schools during 1992-93. Describes staff training, conflict-resolution instruction for students, the nature and extent of student mediation, and measurable program results. Although school behavior indicators…

Evaluates a small New York school district's efforts to reorganize its two K-5 elementary schools into one K-2 primary grade school and one 3-5 intermediate school, focusing on student, staff, and parent reactions. Although the new arrangement created more focused schools, the intermediate principal misses the energy deriving from the Kindergarten…

Evaluates a cooperative program established between police and the Akron Public Schools. Since 1991-92, the program has utilized off-duty police officers who become familiar with students, remove nonstudents from school buildings, intervene in criminal violations, and make classroom presentations. A schoolwide survey showed that police cooperation…

Describes how staff at a Wisconsin elementary school developed a plan that dramatically increased parents' participation and visibility and created a useful method of tracking and measuring that participation. Teachers used a simple grid to chart parents' participation in various activities throughout the year. By the second year, the school had…

Recently, a group of 26 elementary, middle, and high school principals met to evaluate the Prince William County (Virginia) Public Schools' school-based management system after its first year of operation. Principals made generally positive comments about budgetary changes; staff and community involvement; the evaluation process; and the role…

An evaluation of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools' summer-school program to help raise low-performing students' mathematics achievement showed that students received little benefit. Disappointing results arose from use of teacher-centered instructional techniques. Students had little opportunity for informal thinking, exploration,…

Examines perceptions of principals, teachers, elementary students, and parents of the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program for fifth graders begun in Dade County (Florida) Schools in 1988-89. Compares ninth-grade program graduates' drug use with that of a comparable group of non-DARE students. DARE and non-DARE students exhibit no…

Examines Chesapeake (Virginia) Public Schools' successful Reading Recovery Program, asking whether it provides early intervention services to enough children and to those needing it most. Unfortunately, many first-graders who might benefit from Reading Recovery were not served. Only 43 percent of the lowest achieving children were selected.…

To relieve overcrowded, distracting, and uncomfortable testing conditions, the Dade County (Florida) Public Schools began administering the High School Competency Test on two successive Saturdays, instead of on school days. Classrooms were used, and students received free breakfasts and lunches. The new arrangement improved student performance and…