In response to rising college tuition and student debt over the past three decades, some institutions, localities, and states have implemented a range of tuition-free promise programs to promote college access and success. Programs vary widely in their design features, including eligibility stipulations and award structure. I explore the growing…

Teacher attrition is a main contributor to teacher shortages; providing effective professional development leading to increases in self-efficacy, reflective capacity, and job satisfaction may support teacher retention. Effective professional development, self-efficacy, reflective practice, and job satisfaction are all directly related to teacher…

At least sixteen US states have taken steps toward holding teacher preparation programs (TPPs) accountable for teacher value-added to student test scores. Yet it is unclear whether teacher quality differences between TPPs are large enough to make an accountability system worthwhile. Several statistical practices can make differences between TPPs…

Free college, or "Promise" programs--a model of student aid that covers at least full tuition costs for a subset of a given state's residents--have received a significant boost in the past few years. A central question has been whether the model benefits from more consistent political support over time as compared to other forms of…

The University of Missouri Extension needed to develop an annual program review process that collaboratively engaged county-level stakeholders. The results from the first 2 years highlight the results, challenges, and implications of the design process. The annual review process needs to be adaptive, responsive, and reflective from year to year…

Missouri's Early Head Start/Child Care Partnership Project expands access to Early Head Start (EHS) services for children birth to age 3 by developing partnerships between federal Head Start, EHS contractors, and child care providers. Head Start and EHS contractors that participate in the initiative provide services through community child care…

The Central Region states (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) lag behind the nation in the rate of participation in supplemental educational services that schools failing to make adequate progress for three consecutive years must offer to eligible students under the No Child Left Behind Act. This study…

This report represents an effort to facilitate the advancement of significant innovations in vocational education in Missouri. In order for the schools to educate for living as well as for earning a living, a foundation must be laid to bring about changes; thus, this evaluation attempts to consider the needs of the people to be served and the…

This guide is designed to assist Missouri school district personnel in conducting follow-up studies of special education graduates. The guide outlines the questions that need to be addressed prior to conducting a follow-up study as well as the procedures to complete such a project. Sample follow-up questionnaires are included for districts to…

The second phase of a two-phase study evaluated (through 24 care studies in California, Missouri, Illinois, and New York) the feasibility of implementing an evaluation model of workplace-based retraining programs developed during the first phase of the project in California. The feasibility study addressed two components of an evaluation system:…

The first objective of a two-phase project was to clarify the policy rationale and intervention model for state-financed workplace-based retraining programs in terms of their two objectives of retaining jobs and preventing unemployment. The second objective was to develop: (1) an evaluation system for these programs that was composed of business…

In its second year of operation (1986-87), the Missouri Coalition for Adult Literacy (MCAL) greatly expanded its scope and services. Factors contributing to this expansion include the attention generated by Project Literacy U.S. (PLUS) and the use of the Job Training Partnership Act as a funding source. Program accomplishments include the…

Educators from throughout the State of Missouri contributed to the training workshop handbook which presents guidelines for implementing career education programs. Six sections include: (1) Missouri Career Education Today and Tomorrow, discussing current and future trends, and presenting a conceptual framework; (2) Getting Started, refers the user…

This report includes summaries of activities and accomplishments in the state's efforts to implement performance standards and core measures as well as programs in the following: (1) secondary, postsecondary, and adult occupational; (2) single parent, displaced homemaker, and single pregnant women; (3) sex equity; (4) criminal offenders; (5)…

The 1975-76 program aimed to: raise or maintain the rate of gain in computational and communicational skills of each student in the tutorial program; improve the computational and communicational skills of each student in the "Career Development" program; increase each "Career Development" student's awareness of, specific…