This report presents findings from the Massachusetts Family Child Care study, a two-year evaluation designed to examine the impacts on providers and children of an early childhood education program aimed at improving the development and learning opportunities in the care settings and, as a consequence, the outcomes for children in care. The early…

School leaders' values and dispositions impact the quality of education in their schools. Effective schools and appropriate leadership dispositions must be assessed and standardized models must be developed to give direction for future growth. The accrediting agencies and the college of education at a mid-sized state university in a southern state…

The primary goal of the Words Work (WW) early literacy initiative was to prepare diverse students to become successful learners in school. Four groups of students were followed over 6 years: students from traditional Head Start (HS) centers, students from augmented HS centers (WW students), students eligible for HS but not enrolled (waitlist or…

This paper describes state, institutional, and other community-based programs deemed exemplary (on the basis of design imperatives) for successful interventions to promote meaningful access of minority group youth to postsecondary education. The imperatives include early intervention, comprehensive and integrated intervention, intervention…

The study sought to determine the effects of a summer bridge program on the academic, personal, and social development of underrepresented and low-income students during their first year at the University of California, Los Angeles. The 1988 cohort of students enrolled in the Freshman Summer Program/Transfer Summer Program (FSP/TSP) were tracked…

In the summer of 1986, 564 of the 752 members of the treatment group of the first full-scale implementation of the Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) model returned for their second summer. At the same time, a second cohort consisting of 1,591 youth (765 in the treatment group and 754 in the control group) began their first summer of…

The summer of 1985 marked the first full-scale implementation of the Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) model. Federally funded, STEP provides 14- and 15-year-olds with a paid summer experience that combines work, remediation in reading and math, and life skills instruction with an emphasis on responsible social and sexual attitudes and…

This study was conducted to identify factors that affect disadvantaged women in their efforts to gain long-term employment or to complete vocational and technical education programs. Following a review of literature, a questionnaire was prepared and administered to 160 disadvantaged women in Texas. An analysis of the questionnaire responses…

Summer Bridge, a 2-week, non-credit program of intensive career exploration and personal development offered to eligible freshmen at Alvin Community College, was instituted to enhance retention rates and achievement levels among high-risk students, particularly during their first semester at the college. The rationale for the program lay in the…

In addressing the problems faced by compensatory education programs in getting financially and academically disadvantaged students through postsecondary education, this paper explores three common myths about schools and schooling: (1) academic success is highly correlated to intelligence; (2) families of these students are not supportive of…

This paper provides an analysis of the activities of the postsecondary opportunity programs in New York State. The four programs serving disadvantaged populations in 1975-76 were: College Discovery; Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge; the Educational Opportunity Program; and the Higher Education Opportunity Program. Approximately…

This segment of the national evaluation study of the Follow Through Planned Variation Model presents an analysis of the longitudinal effects of Follow Through program models and a study of Follow Through children who were identified as being at academic risk. The longitudinal analysis examines three dimensions of program effects: (1) differences…

The purpose of the project evaluated in this third-party report was for the North Central Technical Institute in Wausau, Wisconsin, to provide career education to the adult population (including youth 16 years of age and over) in school and out of school, in the area served by the North Central Vocational, Technical and Adult Education District.…

This volume contains three reports -- the primary report which reviews the programs offered, students served, and operational issues facing Upward Bound projects -- and two supporting documents, "Grantee Survey Report" and "A Report on Upward Bound Target Schools." Upward Bound is a federally supported program providing…

The federal Even Start program was implemented to improve the educational opportunities of low-income children and adults by integrating early childhood education, adult education, and parent education into a unified family literacy initiative. Because children's first formal educational experiences may significantly influence the course of their…