College Promise programs aim to make students believe they can afford college, and to give them the opportunity to go to college and earn degrees without taking on significant debt. At the core of all College Promise programs is a scholarship: All eligible College Promise students receive scholarships that may cover up to 100 percent of tuition…

If our destination is improved student achievement, we cannot get there without valuing and effectively using data in education. Central to reaching this goal is building trust among all those who have a stake in education that individual student data, such as attendance, course taking, grades, and test scores, are being collected for meaningful…

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) launched the volunteer-led Asia-Pacific Alumni Relations Survey in 2014 to provide a resource for alumni relations professionals to benchmark performance internally and against fellow institutions of higher education. That was the first survey CASE has done on alumni relations programmes…

The primary purpose of the Minnesota Migrant Education Program (MEP) is to help migrant children and youth overcome challenges of mobility, frequent absences, late enrollment into school, social isolation, and other difficulties associated with a migratory life, in order that they might succeed in school. Furthermore, the Minnesota MEP must give…

We describe a targeted professional development (PD) intervention designed to improve the quality of individualized family service plans (IFSPs) and to support IFSP planning, development, and decision making. The theoretical and empirical foundations for the PD intervention and its key components are reviewed. Building on an established online…

Arguing that "needs assessment" is too vaguely defined, this paper considers the term's location within the planning field, compares two variants of the discrepancy model (classical versus social welfare approaches), and reflects on the assumptions and implications imbedded in needs assessment technocracy. Includes 16 notes and 26 references. (MLH)

Teachers concerned about excessive testing may be depriving themselves of useful information provided by standardized achievement tests and their own exams. Teachers tend to separate testing from teaching. This article explores the relationship among data collection, curriculum planning, and instruction and gauges the impacts of mandated…

Each year, school districts in every state are required to file various financial reporting forms with their state education agency. Although these documents are often viewed more as a nuisance than a useful planning tool, they represent a wealth of information rarely exploited to full advantage by state or local policy makers. The research…

This document provides background information related to the 1990 Census Mapping Project to assist in evaluating the processes, products, users, and users of data from that program as part of the planning activity for the corresponding Census 2000 activity. Analysis of the data items frequently used, with particular attention to the School…

Before undertaking a school construction or renovation project, administrators should plan carefully, collect adequate data, involve the school board, form a building committee, understand legalities, select the right architect, consult with technology director, monitor the construction site, enjoy short-lived trouble-free times; and document…

An overview of market research is provided, with advice about conducting market research for the educator. Market research is any kind of research that gives information about the current state of the market and offers guidance in improving one's position in that market. The relative advantages of conducting market research by oneself or by hiring…

Quick power estimates for detecting a difference in two population proportions are expedient during early stages of research planning. Such estimates are tabled and graphed in this article. They are shown to be conservative but accurate for most research situations when proportions fall in the range of 0.25 to 0.75. (SLD)

Assessment is the key to developing an effective program and tracking the progress of each individual student. In turn, the pillar of assessment is collecting accurate, objective data. In this article, the authors discuss the importance of collecting accurate data on student performance in order to be accountable for the instruction and learning…

The efforts of a committee to involve stakeholders, faculty in a department of nursing, in a program evaluation for accreditation, are described. Experiences over a five-year period are described, with an emphasis on strategies that fostered success. Implications for other educational evaluations are reviewed. (SLD)

The Asian Tsunami struck Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004. Sri Lanka was the second worst affected country after Indonesia, and this natural disaster killed in excess of 35,000 people and displaced over 1 million. The article explores the Tsunami Disaster Management Program developed by one Sri Lankan university: the Postgraduate Institute of…