The 2008-2009 Annual Reading First Progress Report reflects on the final year of implementation for Round I schools and the third full year of implementation for Round II schools. This report focuses on the effect that Reading First implementation has had on selected schools across Nebraska with a special focus on vulnerable populations: English…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, states have been required to set minimum proficiency standards that virtually all students must meet by 2014. Sanctions of increasing severity are to be applied to schools that fail to meet interim targets, known as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The authors examine the effect of this legislation using…

A study was conducted to determine the baseline by which to measure expected improvements in customer satisfaction for Central Texas Job Training Partnership (JTPA) programs. The survey was designed to facilitate assessment of the current level of customer satisfaction with service delivery and influences on customer satisfaction. Data were…

Representatives of 50 Service Delivery Areas (SDAs), including the nation's 20 largest urban SDAs, were interviewed by telephone to determine the extent to which disadvantaged youth are likely to find summer jobs in the private sector in the absence of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Title IIB (Summer Youth Employment and Training Program…

This paper discusses the impact of Follow Through, a comprehensive program for low-income children in grades 1-3 and their parents previously enrolled in Head Start programs. The program was designed to help families make the transition from preschool to early elementary school. The paper notes that the longevity of Follow Through (over 25 years)…

The National Center for Children in Poverty has recently conducted research on case management in service integration projects, with the core information coming from 16 projects around the country from many service domains. Six programs specifically target very young children living in poverty, and six provide services to very young children…

This Digest argues that management factors are central to youth program successes and failures and that these factor have been ignored in research on youth programs. Instead, the Digest notes that research and evaluation of programs have focused on the following: (1) whether the right audience is served; (2) whether to make incremental…

Primary prevention strategies (prevention at the community level) for disadvantaged populations are discussed. A number of factors in Canadian society have placed additional stress on many poor and working class families. These include issues of housing, unemployment, lack of education, and social changes with adverse effects on the disadvantaged.…

Genuine intellectual and other pre-academic skills and abilities are as important as social skills for children's smooth transition into kindergarten and continued school success. Head Start was originally conceived to prepare preschoolers from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed in elementary school. Now that the program has earned renewed…

The Des Moines Chapter I math program served 1110 students in grades 1-8 during school year 1982-83. The total population of Chapter I students attained the established criteria for achievement gains but the gains for grades 7 and 8, taken alone, were lower than the goals. The same was true for mastery of math objectives. All parent contact…

Boston's Title I High School Reading Program (1977-78) was intended to meet the needs of educationally deprived children from low-income families. Although few test scores were available, it appeared that 50 percent of the program students achieved the designated one-year gain in reading comprehension. Only 4 percent of the approximately 425…

This report evaluates Boston's Title I Elementary Reading and Mathematics School Programs for 1980-81. Ninety-eight percent of students enrolled in the programs received Title I instruction five days a week. Instruction was highly individualized, and teachers and aides used individualized daily planning. On the average, students attended school on…

The major focus of this interim report on Boston's Chapter I Elementary Reading Program (1982-83) is a comparison of the traditional pull-out model with a pilot model in which the Chapter I teacher works in the student's regular classroom and uses the same basal reader as the classroom teacher. The pilot project was not well received, with 73…

The State Disadvantaged Child Project provides supplementary support services for 6,000 children residing in a low income core area and attending 10 elementary schools and 1 high school in Portland, Oregon. The project also covers other children, allocating funds to the Albina Youth Opportunity School (AYOS), Early Childhood Education Centers, and…

Title I reading and math outcomes for the school years 1980-81 and 1981-82 in the District of Columbia's public schools (grades 1, 2, 3 and 7) are the subject of this report. In both school years, achievement gains in reading exceeded program objectives for grades 3 and 7 but not for grade 2 (grade 1 scores were not used due to a technical…