Building the evaluation capacity of K-12 schools is clearly an important goal for the field of evaluation, especially in the current educational environment, which is dominated by issues of accountability and high-stakes testing. The focus on student achievement has forced schools to become more data-driven as they attempt to analyze test scores…

This monograph reports the results of an effort to assess the experiences of family members and professionals who have received family/professional collaboration training and provides an evaluation of the training program and a discussion of the nature of collaboration. The fundamental concept underlying the training curriculum was the pairing of…

The Satellite Program is a collaborative project between the Elmhurst College (Illinois) Education Department and several area school districts. The primary objective of the program is to provide teacher education students the opportunity to participate in a required series of structured, monitored, and varied clinical experiences in public…

This document contains findings of a year-long evaluation of the Mathematics and Education Reform (MER) Forum, a voluntary association targeting the academic mathematics community in four-year colleges and universities. Specifically, the evaluation sought to assess the extent to which MER influenced its members' involvement in…

This study examined the state of formal staff training and development in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries by identifying what programs are offered; how they are organized, administered, and budgeted; who participates; and how training is evaluated. In February 1997, a survey was distributed to all ARL libraries; of the 120…

This monograph discusses the organization and mission of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) and describes the research studies and commissioned papers that the Center has sponsored. Part 1, "Dream and Design for the NRC/GT," provides an overview of the Center as an organization and describes how the research…

In response to national reform movements, an introductory biology content science course specifically designed for elementary education majors has been developed and implemented for 3 years in a collaborative manner between the School of Biological Sciences and the Teachers College. Preliminary and ongoing quantitative survey analysis of teacher…

This evaluation report covers the first year of the Pattonville School District-Webster University (Missouri) Professional Development Schools (PDSs) Partnership. Representatives of both organizations met regularly to explore the meaning of a school-university partnership as well as the potential benefits and commitments that would result. The…

This handbook documents efforts to promote the professional development school (PDS) concept at Western Michigan University (WMU) and examines how a university might initiate the restructuring process for teacher education and collabaorate with a local school district through the establishment of a PDS. It discusses the underlying principles of…

Year 1 of the Appalachian Technology Education Consortium Demonstration Project began with formation of an executive committee to serve as the managerial arm and establishment of a board of directors to determine policy direction. Other activities included planning for external evaluation, recruiting of demonstration and observer schools, and…

Project Creating a New Approach to Learning (CANAL) was established under the agreement between the United States and the Chicago (Illinois) Board of Education to relieve the effects of segregation in Chicago schools. This report summarizes the participation of CANAL schools in training activities offered by Project CANAL from February 2 through…

This guide, which is intended to assist developers of community-based adult literacy programs in Manitoba, explains the following components of good programming and presents suggestions for integrating them into literacy provision: community outreach, program development, learner involvement, provision of appropriate staffing, use of volunteers,…

This report provides an evaluation of the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellowship Program as assessed by 147 of its past Fellows and their Mentors. This program is intended to develop administrative skills of mid career faculty and administrators (about 30 per year) who, under the guidance of a mentor, spend a year observing and…

Success for All (SFA), a schoolwide research-based reform model developed by Robert Slavin and his associates at Johns Hopkins University, is based on the premise that all students can and must succeed in the early grades. The program targets students in the lower grades, providing them with intensive instruction in language arts. This effort is…

The concept of an extended school year was first defined in "A Nation at Risk," which recommended lengthening the school calendar to 200-220 days per year (compared to the current average of about 180 days). Little research is available to prove the benefits of an extended calendar, and many question if this practice is a cost-effective…