Discusses the experience of the 4-H program with the challenging Federally mandated evaluation. Explores how tensions around both design integrity and practicality were manifested and how this conflict affected a large scale evaluation. Also describes the design that 4-H employed to respond to the Congressional evaluation mandate. (Author/GC)

The evaluation revealed that most of the Disadvantaged Schools Program's initiatives reflected the guidelines provided and that, in many instances, several imaginative and well-planned programs were undertaken. However, the objective of involving the community was found to be less well-attained. (Author/IRT)

Details of recent federal regulations regarding child nutrition programs and ways that associations in the educational community can provide leadership and technical assistance in the direction of child nutrition programs. (Author/MLF)

Citing the nation's need for an environmentally aware citizenry, the author discusses federal and international efforts toward environmental education, particularly UNESCO's First Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education, held in Tbilisi in October, 1977. She proposes methods by which the United States could implement the…

The United States Department of Education's tenth annual report on the implementation of Public Law 94-142 contains improvements but shows overdependence on reporting numbers of students without descriptions of evolutions in service delivery, and raises questions about the effectiveness of monitoring efforts carried out by the Office of Special…

This investigation identified purposes, activities, outcomes, and barriers reported by 45 postsecondary model demonstration projects funded by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). Outcomes reported most frequently at the individual, program, organizational, and community levels included student assessment, materials…

South Carolina has found that meaningful improvement in Chapter 1 schools requires taking six crucial steps: (1) set meaningful goals; (2) pay attention to school culture; (3) revamp the curriculum; (4) pick up the pace; (5) integrate learning objectives with the regular program; and (6) change teaching tactics. An insert summarizes changes…

About 1,500 schools nationwide pay an estimated $200 million in federal funds to private enterprises claiming to provide better literacy instruction than the disappointing Title I results of the past 34 years. Programs run by Kaplan Inc., Success for All Foundation, Sylvan Learning Systems, and Reading Recovery Council are described. (MLH)

Describes an approach to introducing performance measurement into a large federal health program, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, in response to the government Performance and Results Act. Also discusses characteristics of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that present unique challenges for performance measurement. (SLD)

The Internet and World Wide Web are increasingly used to accelerate progress in a variety of fields. These applications go beyond the traditional technology- or computer-related fields and have expanded to nontechnical fields, which have benefited greatly from the use of the Web as a data-gathering and management support tool. The purpose of this…

This article reports how two prominent Democrats are demanding to know more about the problems identified in the implementation of the federal Reading First program, including whether criminal violations may have occurred and what Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings may have known about the problems while she was a White House aide. In the…

Based on interviews with Community Development Corporation (CDC) personnel from many organizations conducted at 10 sites throughout the country, this report presents an overview of CDCs and employment training, supported by detailed case studies. The report is organized in six chapters on the following topics: employment training and the changing…

This report discusses the establishment and operation of the Federal Direct Student Loan Program (DL), enacted by Congress in 1993 to partially replace the existing federal guaranteed student loan programs with a single program that would make loans directly to postsecondary students through their schools. The DL program will be phased in over a…

A community-based approach can excel at putting people back to work. The community-based strategy for helping people find and keep jobs needs to provide comprehensive and integrated services. Collaboration is likely to be the most practical means to round up those services. Community groups usually have a dual purpose in pursuing a jobs program:…