This digest reviews and summarizes what is known about effective school-wide behavioral management systems. Emphasis in such systems is on consistency throughout the building and across classrooms with the entire staff, both professional and nonprofessional, uniformly implementing common strategies. Common features of school-wide behavioral…

Recruiting mentors is a continuous challenge for most programs. A systematic recruitment plan, carefully developed and implemented, will increase a program's chances for success. Drawing from effective practices used by volunteer-based organizations and research findings about mentoring, the material in this document describes recruitment…

North Carolina's Kinder Camp is a 4-week program designed to prepare children for entry into kindergarten. All participants must have completed Project Family Read. A North Carolina elementary school measured the programs effectiveness by using the Cognitive/Language Profile of the American Guidance Service Early Screening Profiles as a pre- and…

This paper has two main purposes: (1) to test the central thesis of systemic reform; and (2) to derive lessons about strengths and weaknesses of reform strategies used in policy and practice. It does this by a secondary analysis of case studies of nine Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSIs) funded by the National Science Foundation. The case…

In 1996, the City of Phoenix Enterprise Community Job Linkages Initiative sought to increase employment by matching local people with local jobs. Evaluation of the second project at Friendly House found that Friendly House, during the 18 months of the grant, increased residents' employability skills and linked them with Enterprise Community…

The availability and quality of counseling was assessed in an effort to define a professional identity for the school counselor that better addresses student needs. Policy implications were also reviewed. Study components are: (1) counselor profile; (2) statewide counselor survey on the role of the counselor; (3) case study of 21 schools relating…

This document is a compendium of descriptions of programs throughout the United States dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives and educational development of Latino youth and children. In reviewing these programs, some common threads were found that define successful programs for Latino children and youth. The successful programs…

Concerns that higher standards and demanding high-stakes tests will disadvantage students who have attended weak, unsuccessful, or under-resourced schools have typically been met with the counter-claim that poorly prepared students will be provided with the extra help and support they need to succeed. Efforts to provide extra help are in their…

This report summarizes the AISD's 2005-2006 program evaluation results of the state-funded high school initiative grant, designed to promote school-wide improvements based on campus needs assessments, focusing on teacher professional development and increased parent involvement.

The purpose of this article is to give some tentative answers to questions such as 1) what is it like to teach at an experimental college? and 2) what kind of rewards and costs can the instructor expect? (Author/RK)

Third and final article in a series by the author; see also "Elementary English, vol. 46, no. 7 (November 1969), 886-94 and vol. 46, no. 8 (December 1969), 1021-30. (RD)

Examines three major decision elements in the program design process: (1) learner participation patterns, (2) educational provider characteristics, and (3) instructional design models. Each shapes and directs the actions of the program designer and the program outcomes. (JOW)

Evaluated a parent education program for fathers, which used a systematic skills approach focusing on communication skills. The program resulted in an improvement in fathers' communication skills, specifically, in their overall sensitivity. Significantly more experimental than control children perceived positive changes in their relationships with…

The impact of inservice generated staff knowledge changes on the behavior of 42 mentally retarded adults was assessed. Findings demonstrated an effective time-efficient means of collecting client behavior change data, as well as a 51 percent growth in measured staff knowledge, anD a decrease in each of nine targeted maladaptive behaviors.…