The research project described in this report (Educational Services for Home Day Care Sub-Professionals) examines the education/training needs of a group of women who are licensed home day caregivers and who provide day care services to preschool children for a fee. This project represents an attempt undertaken by an urban university working in…

The report gives an account of a research and development project on Language Assistant Training. It shows the place of the Year Abroad in Modern Languages Degrees, and the need for training of English Language Assistants. After detailing the preparatory arrangements and timetable of a fieldwork visit to French schools to observe and record…

Anyone who has worked as a teacher or principal in an elementary school understands the value of reliable and valid assessments of early reading progress. In order to implement an effective reading program, schools should have a coordinated plan for using screening, progress monitoring, diagnostics and outcome measures to guide instruction and to…

The document reports the changes states have made in their monitoring of the provision of special education services by local education agencies from 1997 to 2001. It includes a brief background on the federal monitoring process and an outline of the federal requirements for state monitoring. Changes in state monitoring systems are discussed,…

In Mexico there is no policy of lifelong learning; however, the idea of focusing on students and learning--especially on appropriate knowledge-acquisition skills at various points in one's life--is spreading through post-secondary education. Since about ten years ago, institutions of higher learning, mostly universities, have initiated…

In evaluating the success of teacher development programs, valid and scalable measures of teaching practice are needed. We have developed and validated the Science Lesson Plan Analysis Instrument (SLPAI) for quantitative evaluation of teacher-generated multiday lesson plans. This paper presents the SLPAI as a complement to surveys and classroom…

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an observation measure designed to capture teachers' use of interactive teaching skills within the delivery of the All Stars substance use prevention program. Coders counted the number of times teachers praised and encouraged students, accepted and used students' ideas, asked questions,…

This article presents propensity score matching as a method to implement randomized conditions to analyze service effects using nonexperimental data. Most social work research is challenged to implement randomized clinical trials, whereas administrative and survey data are often available and can provide valuable information about services…

Society and the life experiences of children and youth changed considerably during the last century. Schools today are expected to do more than they have ever done in the past to implement effective educational approaches that promote academic success, enhance health, and prevent problem behaviors have grown significantly. Broad-based, school-wide…

Impact evaluations of school-based management (SBM) programs, or any other kind of program, are important because they can demonstrate whether or not the program has accomplished its objectives. Furthermore, these evaluations can identify ways to improve the design of the program. These evaluations can also make successful interventions…

Students helping students have become an increasingly important educational concept over the last 20 years. While the popularity and prevalence of these types of programs have grown considerably, there has been little effort to evaluate their effectiveness. The authors advocate for counselors to use a scientist practitioner approach to…

Mentoring is an important aspect of professional development, but can it advance substance use disorder skills in a national, interdisciplinary fellowship program? This evaluation study used a telephone survey to examine the influence of distance mentoring, interdisciplinary mentoring, and mentor functions on fellows' satisfaction, learning and…

As a result of the "No Child Left Behind Act," there is increased emphasis on assessment in P-12 schools today. School administrators are responsible for assessing student achievement, teacher and staff effectiveness, school climate, and graduates' perceptions of school programs. At the university level, organizations, such as the National Council…

Peer mentoring programs are designed to address problems experienced by new students to assist them in making the transition to university study. The University of New South Wales offers such a program to new undergraduate students. Feedback on the program is obtained from participants through questionnaires and is used to identify problems and to…

A prominent leader in the movement towards restorative approaches in juvenile justice presents cutting-edge practices for community service. Such programs balance community safety, accountability for behavior, and development of the competency of youth. This article describes the benefits and challenges of implementing this model and suggests the…