Difficulties in paying for college and in maintaining good academic performance are two major hurdles to college graduation for low-income students. In recent years, state and federal budgets for postsecondary education have been cut significantly, limiting the options policymakers, education leaders, and communities have to improve rates of…

Health care providers could help achieve the necessary shift to healthful eating and active living; however, lack of coverage or reimbursement, lack of time, and limited information about appropriate interventions are some of the documented barriers. This report highlights the potential for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education…

This report focuses on the seven original Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) projects selected for funding in 2003. Three of the original seven projects were selected for a national random assignment evaluation in 2005; however, this report only focuses on program operations prior to joining the random assignment evaluation for the three…

This guide to developing and implementing mentor programs in local communities contains three sections. The first section examines why mentor programs are needed and what being a mentor involves. The second section includes guidelines for developing and implementing mentor programs. The first subsection covers the first stages of program…

In this program, members of the community visit intermediate grade classrooms as "mystery guests" in order to provide students with an introduction to assorted careers and to promote community support for education. The procedure is as follows: (1) the guest brings a tool of his or her occupation, but does not tell what that occupation…

The purpose of this handbook is to guide rural school districts intending to establish a preschool program. The program described was established in the Trimble Local School District in the rural Appalachian area of northern Athens County, the third poorest district in Ohio. Contents concern: (1) the district's beliefs about children; (2)…

Written for both educators and business people, this document provides guidelines for business-education collaboration. The guide defines the characteristics of business-education partnerships that effectively promote school improvement and describes the stages a partnership undergoes as it progresses to a fully developed collaborative effort. The…

The Ontario Local Schools District, serving the village of Ontario and Springfield Township, offers this manual of operation which program staff developed to reflect the first year of implementation of a preschool program. Contents concern: (1) needs assessment; (2) program development; (3) facilities, equipment, and supplies; (4) staffing and…

Using the results of a national survey of over 500 schools identified as having good discipline, this handbook presents guidelines for improving school discipline. An introductory chapter offers an overview of the survey project. In the second chapter, the authors list 13 characteristics identified in the survey that are common to schools with…

This kit provides guidelines and materials to support a total statewide system for disseminating Promising Practices (PPs) through the Regional Coordinator network. As a resource, its intent is to provide ideas and processes for activities that support and enrich the program of work of the regional coordinator. Section 1 lists PPs currently in…

This "how to" manual was developed as part of a York County (Pennsylvania) system for delivering the Laubach Literacy Program to a sparsely populated rural area. It provides aid to other basic skills programs in Pennsylvania to set up their own centers as literacy delivery systems. The guide first sets forth the project's aims and…

Divided into ten chapters, this document provides for implementing a competency-based staff development (CBSD) program for postsecondary occupational instructors. It also provides case examples of two exemplary CBSD postsecondary programs. Chapter 1 contains an introduction to CBSD programs. Chapter 2 discusses the competency identification…

This document provides guidelines for developing and implementing a preschool program in urban schools. The program described, Bridges and Links, is an educational program for 4- and 5-year-olds that represents a cooperative effort between private preschool providers and the public schools of Ohio's Conneaut Area City School District. Sections of…

This manual was designed to be a comprehensive resource for a wide variety of persons interested in vocational assessment, including teachers, administrators, and counselors. It provides a resource that educators can use in locating guidelines at specific points in designing or implementing vocational assessment programs for handicapped students.…

This paper has been prepared to assist the United States Department of Labor to explore new approaches to evaluating and measuring the performance of employment and training activities for youth. As one of several tools for evaluating success of local youth training programs, "benchmarking" provides a system for measuring the development…