Head Start is an essential part of the programs and funding streams that provide early care and education (ECE) services to young children in the U.S. Head Start focuses on supporting children and families with low incomes, but also contributes to the broader effort to expand access to high quality ECE for all young children. Programs and…

The Illinois Prevention Initiative provides grants to home-based and center-based programs to expand access to the Early Head Start (EHS) model as well as other birth to 3 models. The goal is to serve additional children birth to age 3 and help grantees increase program quality. The initiative to expand access to EHS and other models was…

This report summarizes the activities and findings of the external evaluation of the "Science: It's Elementary" (SIE) program during the period from July 2009 through June 2010. The SIE program is managed by ASSET Inc. and overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). SIE is an initiative aimed at improving elementary…

In focusing on why and how standards might be incorporated into the evaluation process, two themes are explored: the extent to which the Evaluation Research Society (ERS) Standards differ from other recent standards-setting activities and their applicability to local and state-level evaluation efforts. (Author/LC)

Programs in Michigan, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act were reviewed by the General Accounting Office to determine the ability of the programs to meet the needs of all handicapped persons and their effectiveness in helping individual handicapped persons. Under the act, before vocational rehabilitation services…

This report outlines the major themes of the 2000 annual conference of the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), which focused on educational accountability in the 21st century. The conference opened with a panel presentation on the Texas accountability system. This session included a presentation by one of…

This report summarizes the activities and findings of the external evaluation of the "Science: It's Elementary" (SIE) program during the period from July 2008 through June 2009. The SIE program is managed by ASSET Inc. and overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. SIE is an initiative aimed at improving elementary science…

This document presents a self-assessment instrument for early childhood programs serving 3- and 4-year-olds in Massachusetts. The self-assessment is intended to provide guidance to program personnel, local early childhood advisory council members, and parents as they evaluate their programs and identify areas for improvement. The instrument also…

Many states have initiated prekindergarten programs to better prepare young children to enter school. A "blueprint for quality" was used as the basis for evaluating state prekindergarten initiatives; the blueprint focused on four components: (1) ensuring the availability of prekindergarten; (2) ensuring high quality prekindergarten; (3)…

Discusses the roles played by participants and the processes involved in a provincial standards-setting exercise for a large-scale assessment of student skills. Offers perspectives of a policy maker outside the exercise and an insider participant. Describes alternate notions of representativeness, stakes, and significance. (SLD)

The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect funded a project to develop and field-test an evaluation procedure that could be used by interested states or communities to determine the extent of congruity between (1) their provisions for responding to the problems of child abuse and neglect, and (2) provisions prescribed in the Federal Standards…

This article concerns recommendations made in a report to Congress and the Department of Education on evaluation of federally supported education programs. The work covers local, state, and federal efforts to address questions about why and how well evaluations are done, and about how results are used. The recommendations are directed toward…

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has initiated bold steps to improve the quality and quantity of occupational programs in the 11 states served by the Association. These steps include: (1) the Southwide Conference on Occupational Education sponsored in cooperation with Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, (2) the…

Nationwide experience over the last 20 years strongly suggests that state and local education agencies must work together to establish a common vision, standards, and common expectations--a framework--for their comprehensive guidance and counseling programs. This document presents a framework that brings together the basic elements to develop,…

The New York State School Report Card is an important part of the effort to raise learning standards for all students. It is designed to provide information to the public on student performance and other measures of school and district performance. The 2000 report card has been changed to focus on measures of student progress on the new standards.…