Expressing concern for the quality of care supported by Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) funds, welfare reform legislation required states to set aside at least 4 percent of their total grant to improve child care quality and availability. In preparation for reauthorizing CCDF, this General Accounting Office report was commissioned to…

Preservice teacher researchers investigated the effectiveness of a Professional Development School (PDS). They began by reviewing information about other PDSs, then conducted a literature review. Their evaluation involved teachers employed at a local PDS, teachers who had taught students at the PDS, undergraduates who had participated in field…

This report summarizes the activities and findings of Horizon Research, Inc. (HRI) in its external evaluation of Rural Physics Teacher Resource Agents (PTRA) project. The report details HRI's work and findings since June 2002. The project is on schedule for going to scale with the rural centers model, establishing four centers in Year One and…

This report summarizes the activities and findings of Horizon Research, Inc. (HRI) in its external evaluation of the American Association of Physic Teachers (APPT's) Rural Physics Teacher Resource Agents (PTRA) project. The report details HRI's work and findings since June 2004. The report is divided into five main sections. The first provides an…

The purpose of this hearing was to review the effectiveness and value of the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) past and present programs in support of improvement of K-12 science and math education and to examine what role the Foundation should play in future federal initiatives for strengthening K-12 science and math education. This hearing…

State-level policy support for teacher induction programs can help teachers realize their full potential, keep them in the profession, promote greater student learning, and save money. Higher education institutions and school districts must work together to provide high-quality and well-designed induction programs. This issue of "Policy Matters,"…

This study investigates the impact of activities done in the basic education sub-sector by a consortium of four non-government organizations in four provinces in Afghanistan from January 2004 to June 2005. The evaluation uses the project objectives and components as the evaluation framework, and data collected through survey questionnaires,…

Although Japanese society has long valued and practiced lifelong learning, it has not yet been successful in building an ethic that prizes learning, teaches creativity, and includes everyone. Bureaucratic and legal mechanisms undertaken in Japan to promote lifelong learning have included the establishment of Lifelong Learning Councils, a system…

This document is written by employers whose companies participated in the Learning in Smaller Companies (LISC) project, during which a university and two further education colleges created a number of work-based learning schemes for employers in small and medium-sized enterprises in Scotland. The foreword (Peter Swinson) discusses the importance…

Although tech prep is becoming widely accepted by educators and the business community, the jury is still out regarding whether its anticipated student, school, and community outcomes are being realized. In theory, tech prep's focus is primarily on school-based learning, whereas school-to-work programs also include work-based learning and linkages…

The Adult Basic Education Program at Umgeni Water, a water authority in South Africa, is a workplace literacy program that seeks to impart skills within the workplace that can be used in community development, benefiting both the business and community involved. From a pilot project in 1989, the adult education program at Umgeni Water has grown…

The Division of Adult Education in the Arizona Department of Education and the Arizona Adult Literacy and Technology Resource Center contracted with the Morrison Institute for Public Policy to develop an evaluation system for Arizona's adult education program. During phase I, the institute analyzed existing program data on Arizona's adult…

Researchers investigated the optimum length of teacher inservice activities where increasing teacher efficacy was the goal. Participants were elementary science teachers from seven teacher enhancement projects conducted from 1992-99. The length breakdown of each program was: 1992--6 weeks; 1994--6 weeks; 1995--4 weeks; 1996--4 weeks; 1997--4…

This report describes the performance of New York City's Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) adult training providers. It discusses challenges currently faced by providers, and recommends strategies for improving the performance of the city's employment and training system, including those arising from the implementation of the Workforce…

Noting that in many areas, family child care providers lack both available training to enhance their professional skills and an organized professional network for continual support, this practicum project implemented and evaluated the effectiveness of a curriculum to prepare family child care providers for state certification through a community…