In the face of extreme poverty and inequality in South Africa, community mobilization interventions represent an important way in which people can be empowered to improve their life. Successfully conducting community mobilization interventions in rural South African communities requires anticipating and addressing a number of potential barriers in…

Our examination of three schools demonstrates how students can be involved in school reform by giving input about problems, helping design the reform, and sharing implementation responsibilities with adult leaders. Their involvement affects both the reform--as students leave their fingerprints on it--and the students themselves, who show signs of…

Building the evaluation capacity of K-12 schools is clearly an important goal for the field of evaluation, especially in the current educational environment, which is dominated by issues of accountability and high-stakes testing. The focus on student achievement has forced schools to become more data-driven as they attempt to analyze test scores…

This guide is intended as a reference for both parents and teachers concerning the design and objectives of two-way bilingual language immersion programs in elementary schools, including procedures and considerations in the creation of a new program. The first section looks at the role of language immersion as a form of enrichment education, and…

Rural schools typically face multiple challenges related to providing educational opportunities for students and staff. A comparison of curricular offerings in English, foreign languages, and mathematics in a Chicago suburban high school, a rural high school district, and a small rural unit district reveals the curricular disadvantages of small…

A study of a continuous quality improvement effort at Auburn University (Alabama) is reported. The study investigated variables predicting which students are at risk of failure. Data were drawn from the records of pre-engineering students enrolling at the university in fall terms of 1991 and 1993-95 (n=2,505). Data sources included achievement…

This theme issue is devoted to discussions of early childhood policy issues. "Creating a Shared Vision: How Policy Affects Early Childhood Care and Development" (Judith L. Evans) defines policy, discusses the motivation for changing or creating national policy and the process for changing such policies, and provides a sample design for…

This book presents nine case studies from Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom in which English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students have been successfully integrated into regular classrooms. An introductory section looks at the different contexts for the studies, objectives of language-minority education, the rationale…

The method used by the American Graduate School of International Management (AZ) to select participants for internships with Japanese companies is described and some case studies are offered as illustrations. The composition of the selection committee is noted, the interview process is discussed briefly (focusing on elicitation of student…

This study reports on the characteristics of selected public libraries into which adult literacy programs have become relatively integrated. The study addresses the following issues (1) the form of leadership in those libraries in which literacy programming has become integrated; (2) the organizational and staff support that promotes library…

Experiences with faculty early retirement programs at three public universities are described. The universities range in size from 11,000 to 33,000 full-time equivalent students with 650 to more than 3,000 faculty members. Attention is directed to: goals of each of the institutions in establishing the program, characteristics of individual…

Following the theory that a community of practice must be comprised of three elements: domain, community, and practice (Wenger, 2001), this case study examines the extent to which a university was successful in establishing a community of learners in their orientation program for online graduate students. Specifically, it explores the objectives…

IN 1954 CONGRESS EARMARKED FUNDS FOR A FARM AND HOME MANAGEMENT PROGRAM TO OFFER INTENSIVE ON-THE FARM COUNSELING IN MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING. THIS SIX-PART EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM AS IT WAS CONDUCTED IN NEW YORK STATE, PRIMARILY WITH DAIRY OPERATORS, WAS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE THE PROGRAM'S EFFECTIVENESS RELATIVE TO LESS INTENSIVE…

Described are the objectives, activities, and outcomes of a program to provide individualized educational programing to 30 multiply handicapped children from preschool through grade 3 at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children in 1970-71. Noted are individualized activities which emphasized task analysis and positive reinforcement in…

This report on group day care is designed to: (1) examine the kinds of group programs for school-age children which exist in Los Angeles County, (2) describe the conditions necessary for program operation, and (3) consider the issue of quality as it relates to community expansion of day care services for children of school age. The report is…