This report presents highlights of a seminar which focused on solutions emerging at the local and state level to keeping troubled families together. Comments by these panelists are summarized: Elizabeth Cole, a consultant to many family preservation projects; Kristine Nelson, a researcher on the social work faculty of the University of Iowa; Bill…

A study designed a model for evaluating college writing programs by means of an analysis of the most important component, students. The study was conducted at the University of South Carolina Coastal Carolina College and involved first-year students. Subjects, six students who scored one (on a scale from one to four) on the holistically scored…

This document reports findings of a study that evaluated the implementation model developed for Project SHAL, an "effective schools" reform model. Implemented in 1980 in Area I of the St. Louis Public School District (Missouri), Project SHAL is an acronym for the four original participating schools--Stowe, Hempstead, Arlington, and…

New findings from a Rockefeller Foundation study spotlight the possible gains from fully integrated programs of education and employment. The findings are especially relevant to programs of basic education and employment developing under the Family Support Act. The integrated model focuses employment training on a specific job, relates basic…

It is argued that health-oriented home visiting programs during pregnancy and the postpartum period can be an important element in a comprehensive maternal and child health package. This discussion, which draws on the experience of a group of demonstration home visiting programs sponsored by the Ford Foundation's Child Survival/Fair Start…

This three-part paper develops a position on early childhood education in Philadelphia that is based on historical development and policy analysis. Reference points used throughout the discussion are Guba's (1984) concepts of policy-in-intention, policy-in-action, and policy-in-experience. Part 1, which focuses on the past, briefly reports on the…

Followup of 129 students who had been in an early childhood program for gifted students was carried out via analysis of achievement test data in vocabulary, reading, comprehension, total reading, and total mathematics. Data were obtained for three groups of students exposed to varying periods of time in the program. Findings indicated that…

Intended primarily for researchers and prevention program personnel, this booklet provides current background information on the continuing problem of smoking among children and adolescents. In the first brief section, research findings concerning American youth's current smoking patterns and beliefs are described. The second section considers…

Two of America's most serious problems--crime and illiteracy--converge in our prisons. The majority of prisoners have serious educational deficits. Although prison educational programs exist, they are often ineffective because of poor program development, lack of administrative support, or small numbers of prisoners served. One innovation in…

This publication informs policymakers of the breadth of the elements of quality and suggests an integrated framework for assessing quality to policymakers and vocational education evaluators. Chapter 1 discusses the development of a proposed framework identifying the elements of vocational education quality. The framework is composed of three…

Cost-effectiveness/benefit analysis is an analytical technique for assessing outputs of educational programs in relation to the program objectives and the associated program costs. It combines the two concepts of cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis into a comprehensive model. The cost-effectiveness/benefit analysis model has been…

A model is presented for the effects of compulsory high school attendance and the relationship between the percent completing high school and the benefits associated with high school completion. Some of the characteristics of this nation's educational system are discussed, and a normative principle is stated that those having a greater share of…

This presentation discusses the question, "What makes a parent program effective?" by reviewing some of the author's professional experiences within a framework of a planning model borrowed from Lillie and Maslow. The planning model consists of four components: information, interaction, involvement, and insight. The four components may be present…

The development and testing of the effectiveness of a model for the identification of information needs in program evaluation are discussed. More than 200 subcategories of information needs were divided into three major categories: history, conception, planning and development of the program; operation--the ongoing processes of the program; and…

This paper clarifies the distinction between evaluating the effectiveness of student curriculum products and evaluating the effectiveness of administrative training products. Four product evaluation designs are described and critiqued along eight interrelated dimensions: the definition of product effectiveness; criterion measures of effectiveness;…