This report provides information and data to school decision-makers, emphasing the identification of promising practices, major contributions of personnel, and weaknesses of the Follow Through program in Atlanta. Much o f the information presented is in a question-answer format and is based on both hard and soft data. Suggestions for improving the…

When procedures for developing recommendations are integrated into evaluation methods, it is easier to produce useful recommendations for program improvement. (RB)

The Perkins Act greatly expands the tasks of state councils on vocational education. Their duties encompass three policy objectives: achieving public involvement in vocational education, providing independent assessment of vocational programs, and improving vocational education policies and the policymaking process. (SK)

The Perkins Act charges the National Council on Vocational Education with advising the president, Congress, and the secretary of education on the implementation of the Perkins and the Job Training Partnership Acts, strategies for business cooperation with vocational education, effective ways of providing labor market information, special needs…

In 1998, the State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services assumed responsibility for the Milwaukee County child welfare system. The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families has undertaken a multi-year, qualitative research project to monitor the state takeover. The three questions that this project seeks to answer are: (1) What…

Gordon McCaffrey, a political scientist and assistant director of the legislation department, Canadian Labour Congress, says technical and vocational educations is as good as far as it goes. He pinpoints what he believes are the shortcomings of education as a whole, examines these in relation to psychological, social and economic factors, and…

Discusses procedures for evaluating a local vocational agriculture program by the state teacher education and state supervisory staffs. (DM)

Developing instructional programing priorities and planning program improvements require an understanding of how effectively program objectives are being met. A formalized process for evaluating programs has been developed at Vancouver Community College as an aid in these and other aspects of instructional planning. (SSH)

The Florida Division of Vocational Education has developed a system to help educators correct problems identified during program review. The local program improvement plan as a follow-up to vocational program review is a management strategy supported by legislative intent and direction. (JOW)

The seven chapters of this volume demonstrate that evaluation evidence can overturn widely held beliefs and result in changes in programs and policies. These chapters show that policymakers can welcome findings that challenge long-established ideas and use them to Improve programs and services. (SLD)

There have been many competent evaluations of youth civic engagement projects. Our work differs from those in assumptions, purposes, goals, methods, activities, and findings for use in evaluation capacity building and program improvement, theoretical and conceptual clarity, and decision-making. Typically, evaluations have focused on predetermined…

Cost studies are program evaluations that judge program worth by relating program costs to program benefits. There are three sets of strategies: cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, and cost-utility analysis, although the last appears infrequently. The authors searched relevant databases to identify 103 cost studies in education and then reduced the…

Campus children's centers across the City University of New York system have changed substantially since the first one opened at Brooklyn College in 1950. The CUNY system now boasts eighteen such centers, each tailored to fit the needs of its particular campus. Twenty years ago the National Coalition of Campus Child Care Centers (NCCCC) conducted…

The quality of job outcomes achieved by youth with disabilities who are transitioning into employment varies widely across the country. Special education teachers, youth with disabilities, families, community rehabilitation program (CRP) staff providing employment services, and others involved in assisting transitioning youth can benefit from a…

In 2007, the physical education program at Sunnyside Middle School in Lafayette, Indiana, was in constant flux. Teacher turnover occurred annually, facilities were subpar, the curriculum was outdated, opportunities for professional development were rare, and most importantly, students lacked maximum movement opportunities in physical education. In…