A Midwestern state allocated grant funding to encourage more accessible alternative programming at the middle level. Seventeen schools were approved for this grant and used the funds to supplement the operation of a new or existing program. This study provides policymakers and educators with an overview of the various types of alternative middle…

While there has been a remarkable interest to make computer science a core K-12 academic subject in the United States, there is a shortage of K-12 computer science teachers to successfully implement computer sciences courses in schools. In order to enhance computer science teacher capacity, training programs have been offered through teacher…

Capitalism and education can appear like unlikely friends at first, yet for-profit educational ventures continue to grow in size and revenue year after year in the United States. How can the government-controlled (and partially funded) educational institutions capitalize upon the opportunity without modifying the mission and vision of the…

There is persistent debate over the role of scale of operations in education. Some argue that school franchises offer educational services more effectively than small independent schools. Skeptics counter that large centralized operations create hard-to-manage bureaucracies and foster diseconomies of scale and that small schools are more effective…

We use the random assignment of a private Wisconsin need-based grant to estimate the impacts of financial aid on college persistence among Pell Grant recipients at 13 public universities over three years. For equity and efficiency reasons, governments use conditional cash transfers to reduce the relationship between family income and college…

Extended learning opportunities (ELOs) provide safe, structured learning environments for students outside the traditional school day. ELOs include afterschool and summer learning programs as well as before-school, evening, and weekend programs. ELOs come in many forms and can include tutoring, volunteering, academic support, community service,…

This study examines what specific data college faculty and administrators use in their jobs and the extent to which they use data analysis to design and improve the impact of programs and services. The study is based on a survey on the use of student data by faculty and administrators at 41 community colleges participating in Achieving the Dream:…

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) is an innovative program and strategy developed by the Washington (WA) State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) in conjunction with the state's 29 community colleges and five technical colleges. Its goal is to increase the rate at which adult basic education and…

Bringing together a mix of researchers and practitioners, "With the Best of Intentions" examines the major goals of recent philanthropic efforts and looks at some of the key lessons--for educators, philanthropists, policymakers, and community leaders--of philanthropic contributions to schools and school systems. From the Gates small…

How to define quality and how to improve and clarify present standards of judgment and assessment in education are discussed. Three forms of external program review are identified: regional accreditation, professional society accreditation, and state agency evaluation. Quality is seen as representing the level of attainment of appropriate goals.…

Describes the Fairfield High School Chamber Music Honors Program for students in grades nine through twelve in Fairfield (Connecticut). Explains that the program's goal is to provide students with a positive experience in chamber music. Highlights the creation and the first two years of the program. (CMK)

Identifies five factors that appear to have contributed to the survival of several firmly established programs in the alternative school movement. (Author/WD)

Vocational-technical education (VTE) today encompasses a diverse array of programs to equip students with work and life skills. A widening skills gap in the nation's work force, coupled with the fact that only about 20% of the nation's current jobs require a four-year college degree, has made VTE more important than ever before. Research has…

The result of a 3-day conference on integrating women's studies into the college curriculum, this report provides background and information on how the new scholarship on women changes the assumptions, goals, and means of liberal education. It was written specifically for the Association of American Colleges. The SIROW conference was attended by…