The Educational Priorities Panel carried out a study of the first year of the class size reduction program for grades K-3 in the New York City public schools by visiting five schools throughout the city and interviewing the principal and at least two teachers involved in implementing the program at each school. In all, 17 interviews were…

The Child First Authority (CFA) is a Baltimore (Maryland) community-wide after-school program that seeks to improve the quality of life in low socioeconomic status communities. The CFA, which is funded by local government agencies and coordinated by Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), established after-school programs in 10…

This study examined the outcomes of student conflict mediation at two urban middle schools in California. Data collection involved observations, interviews, and instrumentation with the Mediation Rating Profile (C. Carter, 1998), and a writing prompt. Several mediation agreements contained avoidance resolutions, such as "stay away from each…

This action research project evaluated a program for increasing parental involvement for 56 students in targeted first grade classrooms in an elementary school of 311 students. A review of literature showed that lack of parental and community support, undeveloped parent-teacher partnerships, time constraints, and uninviting school climates were…

This document presents a report on a 2-year study of community anti-drug coalitions in 11 cities that have community initiatives programs. Through an extensive review of the literature, conversations with prevention experts, and interviews with members of the programs, an examination was made of the lessons learned by the coalitions. Since formal…

The availability and quality of counseling was assessed in an effort to define a professional identity for the school counselor that better addresses student needs. Policy implications were also reviewed. Study components are: (1) counselor profile; (2) statewide counselor survey on the role of the counselor; (3) case study of 21 schools relating…

This background paper details Head Start, a federally funded program serving preschool age children from low-income families, and focuses on the program's effectiveness and the adequacy of historic federal funding levels. The paper provides an overview of the Head Start Program, describes federal requirements for local programs, and describes Head…

Noting that child advocates are increasingly implementing monitoring projects to track the status of former welfare families and are using the findings to inform their agendas, policymakers, and the general public, this issue brief introduces monitoring strategies and suggests issues for consideration in designing a monitoring project. Monitoring,…

This report summarizes accountability activities and initiatives submitted by Illinois' 48 community colleges in their Accountability/Program Review reports. The three primary sections of this report include Accountability Special Focus Areas, Analyses of the Results of Fiscal Year 1999 College Program Reviews, and State-Level Initiatives. Topics…

This paper examines teachers' reactions to Graduation 2010, a district-wide public school program in Daviess County, Kentucky, that began with brain-based research and involvement from both school and community. The program proposed educational initiatives in eight areas: the arts, music, foreign language, thinking skills, family involvement,…

The efforts of an urban middle school to involve parents in the functioning of the school by employing two parent representatives in an on-site parent center were studied. The school demonstrated its commitment to parent involvement by setting aside a classroom as a parent center and staffing it with two parent representatives, one African…

This report summarizes the AISD's 2005-2006 program evaluation results of the state-funded high school initiative grant, designed to promote school-wide improvements based on campus needs assessments, focusing on teacher professional development and increased parent involvement.

This report relates the impact of workshop training on the pupils of the teacher-participants and considers sex, IQ scores, grade point average, socioeconomic status, type of program in which enrolled, and news magazines read as variables. The results indicate the influence of workshop training in student achievement on the Text of Economic…

This study measures the effectiveness of teacher-made materials and special training for teachers using the materials in increasing the economic knowledge of elementary school pupils. The results show a comparative advantage for experimental as opposed to control group students. (Author/JH)