Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

Education policy makers identify access to quality pre-Kindergarten programs as a critical step in early childhood development. While most agree on access, definitions of quality vary widely. A new study by the National Center for Early Development & Learning (NCEDL) finds that families define quality in broader terms than educators,…

This report presents an evaluation of the Prichard Committee for Excellence's Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership, which trains Kentucky parents as informed advocates for educational excellence. The evaluation examined whether Institute training would increase parents' understanding of education reform and willingness to work for…

Two years into five-year study of school-based decision making under Kentucky Education Reform Act, preliminary findings offer guidance and warnings considering decentralization. Across state, number of parents running for school councils and voting in elections is small. Most councils consist of six people with little teamwork or representative…

Project VIII is an innovative behavioral science-oriented educational program for potential dropouts. It is designed to reduce the dropout rate in grades 9 through 12, increase attendance in grades 7 through 12, decrease discipline referrals and suspensions, increase reading and math achievement in grades 3 through 11, and improve the student's…

A consortium of Elliott , Rowan, and Morgan Counties (Kentucky) received a grant from the Kentucky Department of Education to demonstrate methods by which existing and future gifted and talented programs may be evaluated. A Multiattribute Utility Model was adopted, because the model avoids the pitfalls of an experimental method while providing…

This document evaluates a series of weekly activity guides developed for families of at-risk preschool children. The purpose of the guides was to increase communication between teachers and families, the amount of time families spent with their children on developmentally appropriate learning activities, and parental understanding of…

This final report describes the activities and accomplishments of a federally funded project designed to develop a community-wide interagency service delivery model for facilitating the successful transition of handicapped children from preschool programs to the least restrictive environment in the public schools. The model addresses four major…

During its first year of operation (1997-98), the Kentucky Migrant Technology Project successfully implemented its model, used internal and external evaluations to inform improvement of the model, and began plans for expansion into new service areas. This evaluation report is organized around five questions that focus on the project model and its…

In a demonstration of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's (AEL's) Community Partnership for School Improvement model, Hart County (Kentucky) community members and school representatives planned and implemented a school improvement project to increase parents' involvement in their children's education. In May 1988, 203 out of 625 questionnaires…

This plan for continuing migrant-education programs in Kentucky was submitted as the state's 1992 application for a grant under Chapter 1, Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Improvement Act (1965). The document discusses state plans and projections for continuing migrant-education programs from FY 1993 to 1995. The following…

The attributes of Kentucky's Primary Program are developmentally appropriate practices; multi-age classrooms; continuous progress; authentic assessment; qualitative reporting; professional teamwork; and parent involvement. This document serves as a guide for teachers who wish to make changes concerning these attributes as they relate to four…

Kentucky high schools are attempting to address requirements of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). This study was conducted to collect and interpret data related to the implementation of high school restructuring and make recommendations. Thirty-three schools were invited to participate based on categories of restructuring,…

The Appalachia Educational Laboratory qualitative study of the implementation of five aspects of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in four rural school districts is now in its fourth year. This paper focuses on findings concerning the first year of the primary program, which was put into widespread operation in 1992-93. Nongraded primary programs…

In 1989, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky's education system was unconstitutional and invalidated the entire body of school law. In response, the General Assembly passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA), a completely new educational system. This report upon the 10th anniversary of KERA's passage documents how key…