The major purpose of this descriptive report is to provide an overview of the structure, capacity, and roles of educational service agencies (ESAs) across five states--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin--in the Great Lakes region, within the context of the broader statewide systems of support for educational improvement and progress.…

The positive impact that nurture groups can offer is well documented. This study aims to describe the evaluation of a nurture group intervention across six schools. In contrast to previous research, children accessed the group for a maximum of four mornings per week. The findings show that this model did not comprise the gains reported in previous…

Affective variables can help understand differences in student performance. This paper presents student expectations as an affective variable that has so far received little research attention. Students have expectations from educational providers, the fulfilment of which can create a positive learning environment leading to better performance.…

This study examined non-accredited community language, literacy and numeracy provision in Australia. A diverse range of providers assist many adults who do not need or cannot yet cope with accredited training. Growth in self-confidence appears as important as development of literacy and numeracy skills, with teachers and tutors playing a key role…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine characteristics of resilience among Australian adolescents, the extent to which resilience might be strengthened through participation in a dance/drama competition, the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge (REC), and the impact participation may have on health related behaviour. Design/methodology/approach: …

Objective: To document young people's and teachers' responses to "Icebreaker", a Theatre in Education (TIE) performance exploring themes of sexual health and relationships, in relation to "Healthy Arts"' objectives. Design: Data reported here were part of a wider evaluation of a government funded scheme. Setting: Data was…

This article describes a project to teach consultation and collaboration to high school teacher interns and school psychology students at the university level. For 4 years, students participated in a performance-based project as part of a class. Surveys were mailed to graduates to determine the impact of the experience and their current…

Following the introduction of a National Curriculum for Science, all secondary science teachers in England need to be prepared to teach all aspects of a broad and balanced science curriculum. This is the second paper in which we explore science student teachers' subject knowledge development during a one-year postgraduate teacher preparation…

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a district-wide professional development effort based on a modified Ramp-Up Program, designed to help high school teachers improve the reading skills of their students. Ramp-Up is a two-year course that seeks to accelerate the learning progress of entering high school students who…

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of three different approaches to professional development in Earth science education: preparing teachers to "adopt" expert-"design" curricula; preparing teachers to use a principled approach to design curricula; and preparing teachers to use a principled approach to "adapt" curricula. The claims…

Employer attitudes toward Wisconsin's Youth Apprenticeship Program were examined through a survey that was sent to 260 of the 733 employers involved in the Youth Apprenticeship Program in 1996-1997. Of those employers, 149 (57.3%) returned usable replies. Overall, the employers were very pleased with the Youth Apprenticeship Program's design and…

A study was conducted in 1983 to determine the current state of document delivery among the libraries and non-library document services of the United States and to ascertain what improvements need to be made. Of principal concern was that part of satisfaction time--the elapsed time from the library patron's lodging of a request to the time when…

This report discusses and presents guidelines for the evaluation of specific educational offerings--i.e., courses, workshops, and seminars--in the field of scientific documentation and information retrieval. The topics covered in particular sections of the report are levels of evaluation, the nature and role of evaluation in education, approaches…

A followup study (to ED 011 018) was conducted to obtain data concerning the impact of the 1966 Summer Institutes program on the subsequent classroom activities of the participants. The Institutes had been designed to improve the quality of instruction in public and nonpublic schools in disadvantaged areas of New York City by providing for the…

An analysis of the student and teacher attitude questionnaires revealed a strong difference between teachers and students in their experiences with Virginia Beach 45-15 program where students attend classes 45 days and break 15 days year round. Teachers were almost in total support of the benefits and advantages of 45-15. Students were more…