The Pennsylvania Adult Literacy Practitioner Inquiry Network (PALPIN) was developed to improve the practice of adult literacy teachers, tutors, and program administrators throughout Pennsylvania. The project to develop PALPIN was initiated in 1995-1996. The primary objectives for the PALPIN project's third program year were as follows: adapt and…

This digest contains the following two articles on mentoring: "Mentoring in Educational Settings: Unresolved Issues and Unanswered Questions" (Olga M. Welch); and "Learning from the Field: Mentoring Projects in Field-based Settings" (Heidi Lynch). The first article describes mentoring in general and mentoring in the schools, examines some studies…

The analysis of conceptual issues related to the perception and use of knowledge by classroom teachers and school administrators in improvement programs, specifically in urban elementary reading programs, was the primary goal of this study. To begin, a distinction was made between knowledge sources that constitute the initial bases for program…

The report summarizes findings and recommendations of a California Task Force on Program Effectiveness in Special Education. The 30 Task Force members ("stakeholders" in special education) were divided into committees to address four goals: (1) identify the mission of special education and describe the context in which special education…

The issue of rates of return to educational investment over time is discussed, noting that the examination of this subject enjoyed its heyday in the middle and late 1970s. A longitudinal examination of internal rates of returns to college education for different time periods is included. Some of the reasons for reexamining the issue are: the…

A 50-minute program on careers and trends in the economy was created for presentation to high school students. Designed to be attention-getting as well as educational, it includes activities to introduce students to a cluster of economic concepts, data, and tools related to career selection. Pairs of college students are trained to make the…

The Computer Aided Art program offered at Northern State State University (Aberdeen, South Dakota), is coordinated with the traditional art major. The program is designed to familiarize students with a wide range of art-related computer hardware and software and their applications and to prepare students for problem-solving with unfamiliar…

An intergenerational literacy program addresses the needs of adult students enrolled in remedial reading classes at a community college. Their classroom behavior marked by passivity or anxiety, these students are usually able to derive the surface meanings of familiar text, but demonstrate little analytic or reflective thinking about what was…

A study evaluated the cacao farmer training program in the Dominican Republic by testing hypothesized relationships among reactions, knowledge and skills, attitudes, aspirations, and some selected demographic characteristics of farmers who attended programs. Bennett's hierarchical model of program evaluation was used as the framework of the study.…

Four models for teaching students how to interact more effectively with text at the junior high, high school, and university levels are reviewed in this paper. Each model emphasizes one or more of the following classroom components and their interactions--student resources, text characteristics, tests or course goals, and instructional strategies.…

Vocational education research and development (R&D) product evaluations are difficult to conduct for several reasons, such as the many types of R&D products, the multiple users of the products with different goals for evaluation, the limited time available, and the high cost. In order to meet these challenges, an internal evaluation team…

A study assessed the activities of five state networks that were designed to transfer experience-based career education (EBCE) ownership to appropriate state and local institutions and to develop a state-level support system for continued implementation of EBCE in local districts. Focus of the analysis was on factors contributing to EBCE entry,…

While the importance of measuring the outcomes of assistive technology (AT) is well documented, less information is available about how outcome data collection can be integrated into daily professional practice. The metaphor of a snapshot provides an intriguing method for thinking about the collection of AT outcome data. The purpose of this…

Black Hawk College's Study Unlimited cooperative program with the River Bend Library System, established in 1972, is presented as a model for community college and public library cooperation in offering off-campus instructional opportunities to new student populations by breaking time and place access barriers. Study Unlimited's objectives are to…

In evaluation research studies, it often occurs that several program participants (experimentals) drop out of the program prior to completion. Since noncompleters generally differ substantially from completers in many respects, a control group which originally was representative of the participant group will most likely not be representative of…