A study investigated effects of comprehensive prenatal care on birthweight, child development, and maltreatment of children. A total of 2,585 pregnant women were screened at their first prenatal visits and the 428 at highest social risk were randomly assigned to either comprehensive intervention or routine prenatal care. The comprehensive…

This paper presents a status report on efforts to assess institutional effectiveness at the Community College of Pennsylvania (CCP). Part I provides a description of the methodological and procedural considerations which have guided efforts to understand institutional effectiveness. First, a description is provided of the conceptual foundation for…

This syllabus was developed to assist in educating teachers and administrators in parent involvement by providing information on parent involvement that will facilitate the technical assistance efforts of preservice and inservice for appropriate personnel. The syllabus has three major sections: (1) Rationale; (2) Key Participants in Parental…

This study, addressing the effects of current educational reforms on teaching as a profession, investigated both teachers' perceptions of specific elements of legislative reform and the cumulative effect of these elements. A total of 215 elementary and secondary teachers from 12 school districts in North Central Texas participated in the study.…

The study investigated retention of gains in reading/language skills after one year by 378 eighth-grade students in 18 health studies classrooms. Six classrooms were assigned to each of three groups, two experimental and one control, taught by health science teachers who were: (1) trained in reading/language techniques; (2) not trained in…

An opinion survey was mailed to former education graduate students in order to assess the effectiveness of an introductory educational research course given at Memphis State University (Tennessee). The purposes of the study were to determine the extent to which the course was helpful to students: (1) in subsequent graduate courses; (2) in their…

Stress is a part of everyday life for adolescents with puberty as stress affecting sixth grade students (N=27) was addressed in a junior high school with a program designed to reduce stress through problem solving. Two evaluation devices, the Barksdale Stress Evaluation and the "My Stress Level" Test were used for pre- and post-test comparison. In…

This paper discusses the role of the Speech Communication Association regarding issues of assessment and testing in speech communication in the public schools. The paper describes the genesis of the 1990 summer assessment conference for oral communication skills (held in Denver, Colorado), outlines the goals undertaken, enumerates the resolutions…

This notebook is designed to help educators who are currently learning to design and present inservice programs, educators who are already inservice providers but who might benefit from an overview of inservice theory, and educators who are hiring, supervising, or evaluating inservice providers. It is divided into three parts: (1) Introduction and…

Integrated learning systems (ILS) are comprehensive packages of computer based instruction that includes hardware, courseware, and an instructional management system. This paper describes and evaluates the ILS being used by Yupiit school district (Alaska). The basic program consists of a K-12 reading, writing, and math system made by Jostens…

Research addressed the relative effectiveness of the three types of vocational delivery systems: comprehensive, full-time vocational, and area vocational schools. Data were from the 1980 sophomore and senior cohorts of the High School and Beyond national longitudinal database. Descriptive findings regarding full-time vocational and comprehensive…

The Office of Research and Evaluation of the Dearborn Public Schools (Michigan) presents a longitudinal study to analyze grade nine student academic growth over a 2-year period utilizing the results of the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (TAP). The TAP is a nationally normed test designed to assess student progress toward widely accepted…

Whether termed "quality indicators,""student outcomes," or "measures of accountability," the concern for educational effectiveness is surfacing as the new focus for community colleges. Key to the realization of educational accountability is the availability of solid research information that can assess to what extent results are being achieved.…

This paper provides an overview of instructional evaluation in higher education with a special emphasis upon student evaluation of teaching. The paper includes an examination of the context for evaluation, components of evaluation, and research on student evaluation of instruction, and it proposes a series of recommendations for the implementation…

Project Redirection was designed to help pregnant and parenting adolescents progress toward eventual self-sufficiency by linking them with community agencies and volunteers at four geographically and ethnically diverse sites in the United States. Distinctive features of the program include: (1) a broad scope of services including employability…