During 2006, High/Scope worked with the Forum to provide training and technical assistance to several state and regional networks which are building quality improvement and accountability systems. In each community, High/Scope staff presented to local decision-makers and provided one- or two-day pilot training workshops for parishioners and…

To help teachers and administrators evaluate and improve their reading programs, standards of excellence are presented for seven program components: administration and organization, student assessment, instruction and management, instructional materials, evaluation, staff and staff development, and community involvement. Procedures are suggested…

Effects of training teacher evaluators and outcomes and quality of teacher evaluation were studied in Iowa for 619 elementary school and secondary school teachers. Findings relating to training effects are encouraging, and findings relating to teacher and evaluator attributes and the evaluation process provide direction for improving teacher…

The Iowa Adult Basic Education Assessment Study was conducted to document the qualities of excellence, accountability, and purpose that are present in Iowa's adult basic education (ABE) program. A six-step documentation procedure included creation of an ABE task force; submission of written assessment reports from ABE coordinators; development,…

Quality Rating Systems (QRS) are currently operating, under development, or being piloted in over 25 states or local areas. As the QRS model becomes integrated into the landscape of child care and education service delivery, policy, and the decisions parents make about child care across the United States, there is an increasing need for…

Interviews collected information from 135 graduates of the trades and industrial cooperative education training program, and 30 employers in Des Moines, Iowa, to appraise the effectiveness of training in relation to post high school employment. Graduates and employers commented on the value of core area training, school counseling, and different…

This monograph provides ideas to help school district administrators in Iowa attract qualified special education teachers and related service personnel. A framework is provided for reviewing a district's current recruitment program and creative strategies are shared for improving recruiting efforts. Monograph sections contain: an overview of guide…

The causes and consequences of homelessness have been the subject of considerable social science research. This report details recovery from homelessness, or "exits from homelessness," through analysis of descriptive demographic data and correlation of success rates with participant behavior and intervention context. The 2-year…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Iowa edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…

This article shares one educational leadership program's experiences with the use of student portfolios to assist in assessment of the program's effectiveness in preparing aspiring school principals. The authors begin with a discussion of market pressures for program reforms, which include the use of student portfolios for student assessment.…

This report reviews activities of a research project having the following objectives: identify selected personal characteristics of Iowa vocational agriculture students; determine how important students thought their vocational agriculture supervised occupation experience (SOE) was in developing occupational abilities; and determine how important…

Seventy projects funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title III, and providing the funds to public school districts to demonstrate the feasibility of educational innovations, are described in this document about Iowa Title III exemplary programs. Projects are subdivided according to planning grants, operational grants, guidance…

This comparative study was conducted for the Wisconsin Advisory Council on Vocational Education in an effort to identify strengths and weaknesses of program delivery and accomplishments of several States--Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio--with a view towards making recommendations that would improve Wisconsin's total program…

These proceedings contain 48 presentations and 15 poster abstracts. Papers include "Computer Tasks Required in Selected Undergraduate Agriculture Courses" (Johnson, Ferguson, Vokinnns, Lester); "College of Agriculture Faculty Perceptions of Electronic Technologies in Teaching" (Dooley, Murphy); "Steering Through Turbulent…

This paper describes the process of principal licensure reform in Iowa. Upon adoption of the ISLLC standards, the state department of education required revision of all principal preparation programs to conform to state code and guidelines developed by an external review panel. This paper analyzes the review process and compares five programs that…