Evidence-based programs will be useful to the extent they produce benefits to individuals on a socially significant scale. It appears the combination of effective programs and effective implementation methods is required to assure consistent uses of programs and reliable benefits to children and families. To date, focus has been placed primarily…

This report presents the final results for the evaluation of the New Americans Centers (NACs) demonstration project in Arkansas and Iowa. It focuses on program operations and plans for program sustainability, while highlighting services provided through the demonstration projects in Arkansas and Iowa. It also documents outcomes for New Iowan…

The implementation of programs and practices that reflect the best available research and evaluation is a new and very promising development in the out-of-school time field. However, successfully implementing a new, evidence-based program or practice is a major challenge for practitioners. This challenge is due, in large part, to a lack of…

Since the first child care Quality Rating System (QRS) was implemented in Oklahoma 11 years ago (in 1998), 16 additional statewide systems have been launched and numerous states are piloting or developing a QRS (Zaslow, Tout, & Martinez-Beck, forthcoming). As QRS stakeholders across the nation look ahead to the next decade, it is important to take…

In a series of New Jersey Supreme Court decisions known as Abbott v. Burke, the 28 (now 31) urban school districts serving the state's poorest students were ordered to create systems of high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-old children, beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. The Abbott Preschool Program now serves approximately…

Describes treatment activities at the Boys Town Emergency Shelter Program for runaway and homeless youths. An examination of data collected from 100 shelter users indicated a high number of teaching interactions between staff and youths high levels of youth satisfaction with the staff; and a low frequency of youth disruptive behaviors in the…

This report identifies factors that have an influence on the successful institutionalization and transfer of innovative uses of telecommunications. It examines which factors promote or deter the institutionalization of demonstration projects in the public service field, as well as alternative strategies for institutionalization and innovation…

The experiences of a group of evaluators evaluating a multisite integrated human service delivery system illustrate many design and measurement considerations in the preimplementation and implementation phases of evaluation. The reemergence of human service integration approaches will make such evaluation issues increasingly common. (SLD)

This report presents an assessment of the implementation and the two-year impacts of a program in Texas that aimed to promote job placement, employment retention, and advancement among applicants and recipients to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The program in Texas is part of the Employment Retention and Advancement…

This paper is a study of systems change in services to infants and toddlers with disabilities resulting from Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. It examines the process of moving from federal legislation to implementation in one state (New York) and offers practical strategies to change agents in order to maximize successful systemic…

Measures of quality are now in widespread use across states as part of quality improvement initiatives. For example, many states are currently using global measures of quality that were first developed for research and practice purposes (such as the Environmental Rating Scales) in their Quality Rating Systems (QRSs). Although global quality…

The first of a 3-volume series describing the 17 Early Head Start (EHS) programs in fall 1997, this report discusses the main features of the research programs and identifies the key challenges and successes they experienced during their first year of serving families. Chapter 1 of the report discusses the historical and national context of the…

The National and Community Service Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-610), enacted in November 1990, authorized the establishment of a program for minority students to receive financial assistance grants in preparation and exchange for Peace Corps service. Although more than 3 years have passed since the enactment of the authorizing legislation, the…

In response to the problems caused by categorical funding for services to children and families, the National Commission on Children recommended a series of changes in the organization, administration, and implementation of programs at all levels of government, to encourage a more collaborative and comprehensive service delivery system, including…

Issues that arose in attempting to survey people with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are described. Questions of confidentiality, nonimplementation, and slow accrual of information are considered for an initial sample of 2,731 cases. Comparison with a database concerning 1,313 clinic clients indicates overrepresentation of compliant…