A planning model to improve performance in generating positive terminations of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) participants is described. Sponsors can improve performance by selecting participants with particular characteristics and altering types of services. This approach is useful for any social services which result in…

This State Policy Update provides background on professional development (PD) in adult education. Section 2 describes survey methods used to document how states funded and designed their PD systems. Section 3 reviews data collected by the survey of state PD systems, highlighting PD activities in Kentucky, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. It…

This guide is designed to assist state and local consortia with their evaluation of Tech Prep education programs and with their reporting of Tech Prep program and student outcomes data to meet the accountability requirements of the Perkins Act of 1998. Intended for Tech Prep stakeholders in secondary schools and two-year colleges, the guide also…

Presents remarks on welfare reform by Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, at the National Job Opportunity and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) Directors Conference. Four basic principles that guide current work on welfare reform are (1) making work pay; (2) improving child support enforcement; (3) strengthening education and…

The Chapter 1 supplementary education program is popular with Congress, benefiting from increased appropriations since 1988. The 1988 amendments of the Hawkins Stafford Act improved the program, but further changes may have to take place at the 1993 reauthorization to make Chapter 1 relevant to accelerating educational reform. (SLD)

The case for an in-depth evaluation of many federal education programs is argued, particularly those providing site-specific information capable of informing program improvement. The reauthorization of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) offers an opportunity for the U.S. Department of Education to play a leadership role in…

This dissertation investigates the prevailing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate as an effective platform to improve schools. The data compiled for use in this study represented 426 high schools in Pennsylvania and were retrieved from publicly accessible, state-sponsored sources. The statistical methodologies from the Pennsylvania Value-Added…

Former President George W. Bush finished his tenure without having won congressional renewal of his No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy. With President Barack Obama now at the helm, NCLB is up for debate. Brown Center Director Grover "Russ" Whitehurst examines Reading First, a key component of NCLB, that aims to ensure that all children…

Federal education officials last week pledged that the economic-stimulus program's $650 million innovation fund will reserve the largest grants for schools, districts, and nonprofit organizations that want to finance programs with proven track records and are ready to grow. In the U.S. Department of Education's first substantial preview of the…

Historically, faith-based organizations (FBOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) have been involved in the provision of social services, such as drug treatment, job training, community redevelopment, housing, and education. However, FBOs and CBOs have not often participated in U.S. Department of Education (the Department) grant programs. In…

The feasibility of using performance indicators to improve the effectiveness of welfare-to-work programs was examined. First, previous and current experience with performance indicators for welfare-to-work and related programs (including the Job Training and Partnership Act and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills programs) was analyzed. Next, the…

This publication is a guide with the materials necessary for leading a workshop session on comprehensive needs assessment for Chapter 1 programs for teachers and administrators. As the packet points out, secondary and elementary schools with Chapter 1 programs often do comprehensive needs assessment to satisfy federal regulations or to record…

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the North Dakota Council on Vocational Education on the effectiveness and adequacy of the state vocational education delivery system in carrying out the purposes of two federal acts, along with the coordination that took place between the two acts. The acts are the Carl D. Perkins Vocational…

The federal Guaranteed Student Loan programs provide low-interest, long-term loans to students with demonstrated financial need to help them pay for their postsecondary education. The number of loan defaults and the associated federal costs are increasing; this handbook is an effort to protect students, increase accountability, and reduce default…

This 18th annual report to the United States Congress on federally funded education programs provides information on 117 programs, covering their activities as of September 30, 1988. Program descriptions are grouped under the appropriate administering office: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority…