This article describes the unique benefits of discourse analysis, a qualitative sociolinguistic research methodology, for evaluating financial literacy counseling. The methodology is especially promising for organizations that may lack the resources to implement "gold standard" large scale, randomized, experimental, or quasi-experimental…

The "Integrated Approaches to Supporting Child Development and Improving Family Economic Security" project was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and Northwestern University for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human…

Teachers in rural Native American Pueblo schools in New Mexico lack professional development opportunities due to the long distances between the Pueblos and academic institutions. Previously, most schools received "hit and run" professional development sessions conducted once or twice a year that did not address the real issues faced by…

As a result of the 1998 reauthorization of Head Start, the Department of Health and Human Services conducted a national evaluation of the Head Start program. The goal of Head Start is to improve the school readiness skills of low-income children in the United States. There is a substantial body of experimental and correlational research that has…

Each year, millions of Americans enroll in community colleges, seeking to develop the skills necessary to pursue a career or to transfer to a four-year institution. Community colleges serve large proportions of nontraditional, low-income, and minority students, and they are designed to provide access to a postsecondary education at a low or…

Title VII provides funding for the education of American Indian/Alaska Native students based on a formula grant available to school districts, charter schools, and local education agencies (LEAs). This report explores why some eligible schools and districts do not apply for federal Title VII, potentially resulting in American Indian/Alaska Native…

In January 2009, in the last week of the Bush Administration, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), upon orders from the departing political appointee staff, published the final report in a long running National Evaluation of Upward Bound (UB). The study was conducted by the contractor, Mathematica Policy Research. After more than a year in…

Thirty-three Parent-Child Centers (PCCs) are grouped into five clusters according to thematic orientation of content or intent for parents' and children's programs in order to provide models which may be viewed as strata in selecting Centers as sampling points for Phase II of the national PCC evaluation--an in-depth study of project impact on…

Can community colleges make better use of data to improve student outcomes? That's the fundamental idea behind "Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count," a bold initiative launched in 2003 by Lumina Foundation for Education to help community college students succeed--particularly, low-income students and students of color, who have…

The Urban 4-H Program involved low income, inner city youth in two of the State's largest cities. The project background is described. Data bearing on the program planning process and attempts to ascertain the nature, source, and extent of influences affecting that process is analyzed. Urban 4-H Program participants are compared on several…

Background: Fostering the innate need to lead, teach and care for others is fundamental to creating a just and moral society. The nurturing begins early in life and becomes especially vital during the adolescent years, when peer pressure and the need to belong are heightened. Unfortunately, many youths believe leadership is associated with being…

The Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) is designed to provide assistance to low income students. The program provides discretionary grants for the purpose of increasing the readiness of low income students to attend and succeed in postsecondary education. The grants are up to six years in length and provide…

This symposium report summarizes three studies from the Houston Parent-Child Development Center dealing with aspects of a Parent Involvement Program for low-income Mexican-American families. The studies reviewed are: (1) First Results of a Longitudinal Parent Education Program, (2) Prediction of Success in a Parent Education Program, (3)…

This document contains the report of the preliminary analysis of data collected during site visits to Head Start centers conducted in the fall of 1980 as part of the Child And Family Mental Health (CFMH) Evaluation Project. The report is limited to data from two of the three components of the evaluation project -- the process component and the…

This paper concerns a national evaluation study of the upward Bound (UB) Program conducted for the U.S. Office of Education by the Research Triangle Institute. It presents the major results of the study with attention to methodological considerations of analysis. Two sets of analyses are discussed: (1) a set designed to examine the effectiveness…