The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act (Perkins III) directs state and local education providers to improve vocational and technical education programs. Most of these improvements are aimed directly at changing what teachers do and what and how students learn. The National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE) is charged…

This study evaluated the outcomes of an ongoing child day-treatment program in operation at a health treatment center in the Midwest. The program emphasized development of social skills through modeling by adults and practice with peers in 3-hour sessions that met 4 times a week. Evaluation focused on the extent to which clients improved in social…

This case analysis describes a program to improve the efficiency with which students in the Adult and Vocational Education Ph.D. program at the University of Connecticut work towards and achieve the doctoral degree. Data gathered between 1985 to 1992 indicated students (who were mostly part-time) dropped out at a 50 percent rate and took 7 to 10…

The Bridges SOI Model School Program is an educational service based upon the SOI (Structure of Intellect) Model School curriculum. For the middle seven months of the academic year, all students in the program complete brief daily exercises that develop specific cognitive skills delineated in the SOI model. Additionally, intensive individual…

This paper uses an evaluation of the School Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP), a school-linked, service-integration program in New Jersey, to explore how school-community collaborations can achieve both educational and social, emotional and behavioral outcomes. The paper provides background information on SBYSP and then presents organizational…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a program for enhancing students' social skills in order to increase their ability to work cooperatively and to resolve conflict. The targeted population consisted of kindergarten students in a lower income urban school, located in a medium-sized Midwestern city. The problem of insufficient…

Through a comprehensive review of various afterschool programs across the United States, this resource provides a practical overview of the research and best practices that can be easily adapted and applied in the development of highly effective afterschool programs. chapters focus on: (1) "Why Afterschool Programs?" (benefits, challenges, and…

This paper discusses comprehensive school reform (CSR), which accepts the importance of standards and accountability but adds to these strategies for introducing innovations in curriculum, instruction, school organization, governance, parent interactions, and other core features of practice. The paper reviews research on the nature and quality of…

This paper reviews the literature to outline principles and best practices for aquatic stewardship education. Stewardship education develops an internalized stewardship ethic and the skills needed for decision making and environmentally responsible actions. Successful stewardship education programs are designed to influence beliefs, values,…

This report presents analyses of data from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) reading measures. It evaluates outcomes in all of the 111 Texas schools that began Success for All from 1994-97. Success for All is a comprehensive reform model for elementary schools, especially Title I schoolwide projects. TAAS reading scores were collected…

This paper summarizes data from evaluations of community school initiatives. Section 1 describes community schools, discusses the nature and limitations of existing research on effectiveness, and summarizes findings from 49 community school initiatives. This section also includes three examples of evaluations. All of the reports present findings…

A formative committee conducted a developmental study to produce a program evaluation instrument (PEI) that would be effective in conducting an adult basic education (ABE) program evaluation study at Nicolet Area Technical College (NATC). Five procedures were used to complete this product. First, a literature review was conducted that assisted in…

During 1999/2000, the Saginaw, Michigan public schools implemented a reduced class size program in grades 1 and 2. At grade 1 (23 rooms), reduced-size classes were maintained at no more than 18 pupils; at grade 2 (5 rooms), the limit was 21 pupils. Comparison classes were identified to assess the impact of the program. Students in both conditions…

There is at the present time a strong movement to include in the school curriculum more preparation for character education. The schools have long recognized their obligations in this respect, but more progress has not been made because they did not know how to bring it about. With the coming of trained psychologists, psychiatrists, and other…

Provides top-rated programs (by university) in biochemistry, botany, cellular/molecular biology, microbiology, physiology, and zoology. Overall scores included with each program were obtained from 1,848 biologists who were asked to rate programs in terms of faculty quality and their effectiveness in educating graduate students. (Author/JN)