This qualitative study of 32 low-income families with infants or toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities (a) examines whether participation in one Early Head Start (EHS) program increased the likelihood that the families would pursue early intervention services, (b) identifies the phases through which the EHS families progressed in…

Purpose: This paper seeks to explore undergraduate placement experiences in tourism and hospitality SMEs, focusing on the notions of surprise and sense making. It aims to argue that surprises and sense making are important elements not only of the adjustment process when entering new work environments, but also of the learning experience that…

In surveys conducted in different countries over four years, the authors investigated why entrepreneurs in the same sector and during the same period were not equally successful. From the findings of this research they developed a new three-day training programme to address primarily skills and techniques relating to personal initiative, planning,…

The research reported in this paper examined a set of innovative high school programs on community college campuses. Specifically, a full-time dual enrollment program and 4 middle college high schools were studied. The authors used in-depth interviews and observational data to investigate the structure, processes, and perceptions of effectiveness…

While family-based placement prevention services, family reunification programs, subsidized guardianship, and aggressive adoption programs are reducing the numbers of children spending long periods of time in substitute care, a significant number of America's children will come of age in foster care. Agencies and policymakers should use research…

This study investigated teachers' perceptions of how one school district supported and sustained a teacher-led staff development committee's professional development program. In this small, rural school district, teachers regarded as exemplary by their administrators and colleagues were invited to serve on the district's staff development…

This research was prompted by a recognition that the links could be improved between the Cardiff University Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Further Education) (PGCE (FE)) course and its partner colleges, in which students complete their teaching practice. It sets out to explore the external and internal policies on such partnerships, and…

The ECFMG[R] Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA[R]) was developed to evaluate whether graduates of international medical schools (IMGs) are ready to enter graduate training programs in the United States. The patient note (PN) exercise is specifically used to assess a candidate's ability to summarize and synthesize the data collected in a simulated…

The idea of an entrepreneurial university caught on fast after the American sociologist Burton R. Clark published his books on entrepreneurship in universities ("Creating Entrepreneurial Universities," 1998; "Sustaining Changes in Universities," 2004). Inspired by the alluring of the notion of an entrepreneurial university, and…

Context: An experimental Health Care Improvement Program (HCIP) was initiated by the Bureau of National Health Insurance in 1997 to improve the accessibility of health care in several rural, mountainous districts. Purpose: This longitudinal study evaluated service availability, utilization patterns, and effectiveness of services under the HCIP in…

This paper is one of four individual case study reports presenting the qualitative findings from a five-year investigation of the impact of accountability reform on students with disabilities in four states, eight districts, and twenty schools. This case study report presents qualitative data collected over a four-year period--2001-2004--from…

The Pittsburgh Public School District asked the RAND Corporation to monitor the first year's implementation (2006-2007) of Excellence for All (EFA) and provide feedback to district staff, the board, and other stakeholders. The Pittsburgh Public School District leadership developed EFA with the aim of increasing student achievement by improving…

A team of graduate students and educational administration professors, as part of a field-based doctoral program, discovered the "split and fit" culture during an evaluation of the school's Continuous Progress Primary Program (CPPP). According to Pascale (1990), "split and fit" can work to an organization's benefit. Fit…

A brief overview of the status, as of August 1990, of the 1990 decennial census conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce is presented. Topics include: the recanvassing effort for following up on the census proper; the effects of reinstitution of unemployment benefits for all temporary census employees; completion of the initial interviewing…

Fourth in a series of Child and Family Resource Program (CFRP) evaluation reports, this document is devoted to the program study component, designed to illustrate CFRP operations across the country and to establish a descriptive context for statistical and analytic findings. Chapter 1 describes the process of building a network of linkages with…