This brief provides highlights from "Advancing Achievement: Findings from an Independent Evaluation of a Major After-School Initiative." The brief underscores the potential of after-school programs in the ongoing drive to advance children's academic achievement. It shines a light on some of the issues that matter most for programs striving to…

This report summarizes the efforts and successes of the Youth as Resources (YAR) initiative, a program that offers youth empowerment and leadership in community service. It utilizes all youth in an effort to address any social or community issue deemed important to a local area and provides opportunities for a wide range of agencies to host or to…

The aims of the Youth and Environment Training Project were to: increase youth workers' awareness and understanding of conservation and environmental issues and their relevance to young people; create links between environmental education and youth work practice; develop strategies for implementing conservation and environmental activities within…

A brief history of business/education partnership development (BEPD), using the development of the Boston Compact in 1975 as an illustrative case study, highlights several points: partnerships embrace diverse territory and goals; a partnership is a process, not an event; a partnership is a relationship between institutions and people within those…

To reduce school isolation from the broader community, increase public awareness of school offerings, and provide students with opportunities to interact with the business community, the Fort Worth (Texas) Independent School District decided to participate in the Adopt-A-School program. Using a question-answer format, this report evaluates the…

These materials are designed to help concerned people develop and improve the quality of business and economic education programming in their community school system. Cooperative curriculum planning and community resource sharing should involve professional educators and community members in order to obtain the broadest possible consensus for…

This study of halfway houses is based on the review of 55 evaluations of house programs and the survey of an additional 153 programs. It describes the historical development of halfway houses, their current operations and provides a framework for reconciling theory and operations. A review of existing evaluations suggests some conclusions about…

A demonstration project designed to increase the number and quality of Family Day Care Homes available to Work Incentive (WIN) program clients in three Kansas communities was evaluated. All results are based on project trainees' voluntary, written responses to pretraining and posttraining questionnaires. Data on the trainees' background including…

An independent evaluation of the VISTA program in two Baltimore, Maryland, schools describes the objectives and activities of this project funded by the Economic Opportunity Act. Assessment of the VISTA efforts was based on questionnaires completed by the 10 volunteers, and interviews with principals, teachers, guidance counselors, pupils, and…

This mammoth document consists of a random series of project reports and proposals from the Puerto Rican Department of Education. Each report is a distinct entity, and lists the school districts involved in the project under discussion. The papers all focus on those aspects of strategies and services which will help students to remain in school,…

This evaluation report on the Green Thumb program is the first in a series of three reports that will constitute a comprehensive evaluation of Operation Mainstream (OM). Operation Mainstream is a collection of programs designed to employ as enrollees poor, chronically unemployed adults. This evaluation relies primarily on cross-sectional and…

A 55-item questionnaire was distributed to all of the Community School Programs in Michigan which were partially reimbursed by the State in 1975-76. Ninety-eight percent of the questionnaires were returned. Thirteen components existed in over 90% of the programs and are considered to be necessary for a viable Community School Program. The results…

The project reported on in this paper involved the implementation of systematic interpersonal skills training in empathy for the staff members of a community based, vocational development program developed to promote the career development of black youth. The design was to raise 12 black staff members level of skill functioning to an adequate…

This planning guide is designed to help communities answer important questions about programs to address youth violence, including finding out the types of programs that are effective and learning how to implement them. The guide is divided into four sections. Section 1, "Key Facts about Youth Violence," presents key facts about youth violence…