This report is the result of a request from two states for technical assistance to support the selection and revision of the state's Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEA's). Given that this is a national topic of interest, the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) summarized what we gathered to provide other states with this relevant…

Under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act Part C state administrators have reported data for compliance since the inception of the program in 1986. Recently, Results Driven Accountability (RDA) introduced a shift to use data for continuous improvement at the state and local levels. The researcher used a multiple case study to…

In today's world, much of what used to be individual work has become collaborative. Moreover, complex change initiatives often require individuals within and across organizations to team up to set and achieve meaningful goals. The role of researchers and evaluators is to offer support that can be used to strengthen the work of organizations and…

The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) are a networked system of 10 organizations that serve the educational needs of 10 designated regions across the United States and its territories. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) to award contracts to 10 RELs to support applied research,…

Faced with rising demand for information about early childhood programs, states need to find tools and strategies to monitor the progress of and to identify high-quality early childhood programs. In response, REL Mid-Atlantic convened a regional workgroup for state personnel who work with the systems containing early childhood data. The workgroup…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

This paper explores the concept of mutual adaptation in the process of information transfer for school improvement. The analysis is based on the experiences of technical assistance teams of the Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (Chicago, Illinois), which sought to link research and practice by helping schools to improve their problem…

This study examined how 26 teachers in two elementary schools used performance-charted data provided by a technical support agency. Although teachers did not report using the data extensively to make explicit instructional decisions, most teachers reported using the data to verify their own observations about student progress and as a…

This paper compares the usefulness of documentary (written materials) versus face to face delivery of information in helping to bring about urban school improvement. The paper is based on the experiences of the Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (DTA) of the Center for New Schools (Chicago, Illinois), a program that aims to increase…

This paper describes the implementation of technical assistance strategies to enhance urban public school improvement in the Oakland, California, and Chicago, Illinois, school districts. The assistance strategies were developed under the Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (DTA) of the Center for New Schools in Chicago, and implemented…

The results of the experience of a Technical Assistance Center (TAC) for three months with a system for classifying and recording actual and planned tasks and activities are described and discussed. The area covered by this report includes 15 states in 3 geographic regions. Staff days planned and actually spent and trips planned and spent are…

This preliminary handbook, part of the Chicago Documentation and Technical Assistance Project, has been developed to inform technical assisters about information sources and information utilization procedures that might be useful in their efforts to link educational research with practice. The document is divided into two main sections. Section…

The role of external agents in educational knowledge utilization, the factors affecting agent impact, and future research needs comprise the topics of this literature review. Based on existing definitions, the author identifies the external agent as an individual or group outside the client system whose objective is to help the clients enhance…

The Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (DTA) was created, in part, to test a premise related to educational problem-solving. It was hypothesized that knowledge gained through on-site documentation of school level problem solving practices could be transformed for utilization (linkage) by other schools and communities to improve the…

Discusses two programs undertaken at engineering colleges in an attempt to transmit technology information from the body of knowledge to the potential users, especially small and medium sized companies. Concludes that the university mission can be partly fulfilled through the technology transfer program. (CC)