For more than 20 years, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (United Way) has made high-quality early care and education a cornerstone priority of its investment strategy. United Way has also been a longtime champion of school readiness for the youngest children in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 1996, the organization joined…

This study describes an evaluation of a theory-based trajectory for professional development called FeTiP (Feedback-Theory into Practice) that aims to have an observable effect on teacher classroom behavior. FeTiP is a multicomponent trajectory for professional development and combines several types of interventions. Its goal is to help teachers…

Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE for Teachers) is a mindfulness-based professional development program designed to reduce stress and improve teachers' performance and classroom learning environments. A randomized controlled trial examined program efficacy and acceptability among a sample of 50 teachers randomly assigned to…

The Algebra Project DR K-12, funded by the National Science Foundation as a Research and Development Project, addressed the challenge of offering significant STEM content for students to ensure public literacy and workforce readiness. The project's primary purpose was to test the feasibility and effectiveness of a model for establishing four-year…

Significant life experience research suggests that outdoor experiences foster proenvironmental outcomes. Time spent outdoors is more frequently identified as the source of proenvironmental behavior than is education, suggesting that cognition may be less important than affect. Yet, environmental education field programs are often evaluated on…

In the past decade in the United States, pre-kindergarten programs for four year olds have expanded rapidly as a potentially powerful intervention intended to promote school readiness for children at-risk for future school failure. This paper describes in detail multi-dimensional profiles of observed quality across 692 classrooms in 11 states…

Describes Arts Propel, an undertaking that falls under the auspices of Project Zero which has been designed to investigate practical efforts in educational settings. Discusses findings emerging from the studies generated by Arts Propel. Lists some general trends that are well received by those involved in Project Zero. (KO)

Describes development of a middle school advisory program based in character education. Includes descriptions of class activities to introduce character education emphasizing respect, perseverance, integrity, citizenship, trustworthiness, responsibility, compassion, honesty, self-discipline, and fairness. Notes that the advisory program resulted…

Staff members at an elementary school in a low-middle socioeconomic area saw the need to generate new enthusiasm among pupils during the last few weeks of the school year. An enrichment program, based on new experiences for the children and the acquisition of skills not regularly included in the elementary curriculum, was provided for 600 pupils…

This study sought to identify and describe the components of a model preschool program that recognizes multicultural diversity. A non-participant observation was conducted in an early childhood center identified by the Ohio Department of Education as having a model program. The center's six classrooms were observed and rated according to criteria…

The Hartford Early Childhood Program involves more than 4,500 children from 4 years old to first grade level in over 200 classrooms. Classrooms are designed to offer children an environment that encourages them to learn independently. Ideas have been borrowed from the Montessori approach and the British Infant Schools and fitted to the needs of…

This document reports on a project aimed at developing, implementing, and evaluating a plan for using volunteer classroom aides in the Palm Beach County (Florida) schools as a means for meeting various financial, human, and community needs. The desirability of a comprehensive volunteer plan was presented in a 10-point summary by an ad hoc…

The objective of this undertaking has been to identify procedures and perspectives which have potential for assessing program environments of preschool age children, analyze the procedures relative to program components abstracted from known preschool programs, and discuss the results of this analysis in terms of its relevance for future program…

This project involved a program for improving student behavior. The targeted population consisted of second and third grade students in a rural community located west of Chicago, Illinois. Data indicated that behavior problems were disrupting instructional time and students' involvement in learning. The evidence for the existence of the problem…

Phoneme awareness, or the ability to recognize a spoken word as a sequence of individual sounds, is thought to be an essential prerequisite to successful literacy. A child-based phoneme awareness training program integrating children's experience and activities with sound awareness and print immersion was developed at a small urban elementary…