This report focuses on two aspects of teacher supply and quality: (a) the under-representation of racial/ethnic minorities, especially African Americans in the teaching pool, and (b) teacher candidates' performance on licensure assessments, including general skills tests in reading, writing, and mathematics (known as Praxis I[R]) and selected…

"The Electric Company" ("TEC") television show won the hearts of children because it made learning fun. Thirty years later, the iconic show has returned with the goal of not only teaching literacy, but also numeracy (the ability to work with and understand numbers) and mathematics vocabulary in a fun, entertaining, and engaging…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed a framework and a set of templates that teachers and other educators can use to develop content…

The Reflective Appraisal of Programs (RAP) approach allows county extension staff (in cooperation with volunteer leaders, specialists, and district staff) to obtain systematic evidence on results that participants perceive to have occurred in the months or years following their involvement in an extension program. Simpler than a…

The later school achievement of San Diego Home Start children and their parents' retrospective attitudes about the value of the Home Start program were examined in this study. The Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) was administered to 32 children in grades K-3 whose families had participated in the Home Start program. Since no control…

As a result of a commitment to research and develop a tested program evaluation system, one group within a task force decided to interview a cross section of Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) personnel. Twenty people were interviewed from top management down to field workers. Inquiries were made about the organization, about the…

Scratch the surface of any successful organization and readers will likely find systems designed to evaluate how well it runs. The approach to evaluation presented in this book can be applied in a variety of contexts, but the focus here is on the evaluation of leadership development initiatives. Effective evaluations keep leadership development…

In 2001, the Tennessee Department of Education identified underperforming schools from across the state as Corrective Action schools. Corrective Action schools are among those that failed to meet federal and state guidelines for adequate yearly progress (AYP). The present study was conducted to examine the key features of 9 Corrective Action…

Skillfully interviewing students can elicit useful information about the quality of the educational program. (JM)

Even though teacher education has been successful in preparing students for their future profession, the classroom reality can differ greatly from the inservice training. Many novice teachers therefore find the transition from student teacher to inservice teacher overwhelming To support beginning teachers, mentoring programs--where more…

Evaluations of the effectiveness of government programs may serve both to improve program implementation and to convey to policymakers information on the effectiveness of these programs. However, the evidence generated from programs and their providers--perhaps especially when these programs are decentralized and implemented and run locally--may…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) was first launched in 1997 as a periodic longitudinal study of program performance. Successive nationally representative samples of Head Start children, their families, classrooms, and programs provide descriptive information on the population served; staff qualifications, credentials,…

Underserved youths are affected by a variety of circumstances such as poverty, poor nutrition, and low physical activity levels. While many extended-day physical activity programs exist, few focus on the importance of health and wellness. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of an extended-day program for underserved youths…

Physical education and sport are often critically evaluated for the potential impact they can have on the development of children, both from the perspective of health and the development of sporting talent. Reflecting these two important goals, this paper presents an evaluation of the efficacy of an evidence-based, educational and inclusive…

University researchers, teacher candidates, language and technology instructors, student learners, and families from diverse backgrounds partnered in an invitational teaching/learning experience--middle school student learners teaching their VIPs (very important persons) how to create stories and construct digital movies with reference to their…