Robert Burns wrote: "The best laid schemes of Mice and Men oft go awry". This could be considered the motto of most educational innovation. The question that arises is not so much why some innovations fail (although this is very important question), but rather why other innovations succeed? This study investigated the success factors of…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, 1998?1999 Kindergarten Cohort, the study examines two research questions: What are the effects of participation in the National School Lunch Program on changes in children?s behavior, test scores, and body weight? Do these effects differ by gender? To address issues of selection, we use…

This report presents results from the fifth annual survey of Advanced Technological Education (ATE) projects, centers, and articulation partnerships. ATE has approximately 220 active awards. Of these, 163 ATE-funded projects, centers, and articulation partnerships were asked to participate in the 2004 survey. During the survey administration…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 ("NCLB") presents a rigorous plan for education reform, challenging the nation's schools to increase student achievement and teacher quality. Central to that call for accountability is the requirement that schools take greater care in the selection of curricular and professional development programs…

An estimated 6,000 children and youth in Ramsey County have severe, long-term difficulties that make it very hard for them to function at home, at school, and in the community. The suffering and hardship for these children and youth is severe. The harm also extends beyond the youth themselves, affecting their families, their schools, their…

This article reports findings on growth in three science teachers' expertise with interpretation of student work over one year of participation in a program. The program was designed to strengthen classroom assessment in the middle grades. Using a framework for classroom assessment expertise, the authors analyzed patterns of teacher learning, and…

This research paper examines the effectiveness of the Teaching American History (TAH) Program in Jefferson County, Kentucky from 2005-2006. We employ a combination of survey, interview, observational, and data mining research methods to examine attainment of program objectives and goals. In addition to evaluating the overall effectiveness of the…

In August 2004, the WVDE asked the Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia, Inc. to evaluate the demonstration project, in order to meet the evaluation and reporting requirements set forth in the law. According to Fink (1993), baseline evaluation data allow for subsequent analyses of the effect or impact of a program. The purpose of this…

The current report explores what is available to superintendents after they assume their positions: what the landscape of sustained executive training and support options available for sitting school system leaders looks like. It describes about two dozen programs offered around the country-who offers them, how they are organized and funded, what…

This monograph, one of a series on youth with disabilities and the juvenile justice system, focuses on the need for collaboration between the juvenile justice system and youth serving agencies. It begins with a discussion of the categorical, fragmented, and uncoordinated services that currently exist and describes collaboration as a viable option…

This brief examines the underlying research-based rationale for the American Federation of Teachers' (AFT) policy on beginning teacher induction, noting that among the most often-cited reasons young teachers give for leaving teaching is lack of support, and considerable evidence shows that induction is an effective means of retaining them. Five…

The study examines the defining features of school improvement programs. Twelve research-based programs that have been implemented for 5 or more years in at least 50 schools or for 3,000 students were analyzed. All have achieved national visibility. Eight of the programs focused on curricular reform and topics included: (1) Core Knowledge; (2)…

This applied dissertation reports on an intervention to develop the social skills of six cognitively gifted fourth and fifth grade students. The twice-weekly, after-school intervention was intended to address the asynchronous development of these children who experienced functional disability in social settings due to social dissonance, a…

This Spanish- and Portuguese-language bulletin presents articles focusing on the Effectiveness Initiative (EI), a project of the Bernard van Leer Foundation for making a qualitative analysis of those elements of the programs of Early Childhood Development (ECD) that benefit the participants and their communities and cultures. The first article…

This Spanish- and Portuguese-language bulletin is a follow-up to No. 15 (PS 030 558), which examined some Effectiveness Initiative (EI) projects. This issue presents some beginning efforts to reflect on what has been learned through EI and to draw conclusions. The articles cover the results of EI projects from such angles as their relations with…