This paper provides a brief overview of the status of retention and completion efforts among community colleges in the United States. This article identifies a number of successful strategies utilized in on-ground institutions that may translate well to online programs. In light of these successes, the article questions whether the costly current…

Title VII provides funding for the education of American Indian/Alaska Native students based on a formula grant available to school districts, charter schools, and local education agencies (LEAs). This report explores why some eligible schools and districts do not apply for federal Title VII, potentially resulting in American Indian/Alaska Native…

Cost studies are program evaluations that judge program worth by relating program costs to program benefits. There are three sets of strategies: cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, and cost-utility analysis, although the last appears infrequently. The authors searched relevant databases to identify 103 cost studies in education and then reduced the…

International development organizations increasingly use "participatory development" approaches to improve the effectiveness of their programs. Participatory frameworks are commonly limited in scope and funder-driven; these top-down approaches to participation have proven to be both ineffective, and at times, contradictory in their…

Illustrates the need for process evaluation as part of cost-effectiveness/benefit studies. Identifies reasons for ineffectiveness in three outcomes for cost-effectiveness/ benefit analysis (enrollment, completion, employment), and suggests some general strategies for program improvement. (CT)

An evaluation methodology based on problem-solving techniques which can be effective and efficient in defining and analyzing problems which impair program performance is described. The model provides a potentially unique cost/benefit methodology for estimating the potential worth of improving program performance. (Author/RL)

To expand understanding of how to improve efficacy as well as enhance the implementation of effective aftercare programs, there is a need to study the following issues: how to operationalize aftercare as usual, how to improve retention and engagement in aftercare, and how to determine or match the optimal duration, dosage, and specificity of…

Discusses various elements of effectiveness in industrial training: the favorable image surrounding training, ease with which employees can enroll for courses, training as a tool of personal development, the evolution of training departments into professional staff units, and budgets. The efforts of training department management are also…

Describes a novel form of citizen participation that has been developed by the Center for New Democratic Processes over the last decade. It is the belief of the authors that these citizen panels can overcome many of the deficiencies of other approaches to participation. Six criteria are suggested for a successful method of participation.…

Describes the Instructional Quality Inventory (IQI) for formative evaluation of systematically developed instructional programs, its classification scheme for objectives and test items, and procedures for checking programs for adequacy, consistency and presentation. Accounts of two studies are given to support the usefulness of the IQI. (EAO)

This article is the first of a series of three in which the authors share the results of their field studies on industrial training. Among the sources of ineffectiveness and inefficiency of training efforts are training given despite no real deficiency, wrong choice of expectations, training as panacea, and training too soon or too late. (CT)

A study examined the implementation of the Indiana Early Literacy Intervention Grant Program during the 1997-98 school year, when the program funded a total of 133 projects and served 9,685 students in its first year. The study incorporated an analysis of existing databases, a systematic review of the research literature on reading interventions,…

Voluntary cooperative consortia among colleges and universities are increasing and show promising potential strength. (IR)

Surveys and benchmarks continue to grow in importance for community colleges in response to several factors. One is the press for accountability, that is, for colleges to report the outcomes of their programs and services to demonstrate their quality and prudent use of resources, primarily to external constituents and governing boards at the state…

Concerned with the general problem of the effectiveness of simulator training, this report reflects information developed during the conduct of aircraft simulator training research projects sponsored by the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Coast Guard. Problems are identified related to simulator design, testing, and use, all of which impact upon…