Two distinct but converging activities have the potential to alter the way local public health departments conduct business. These activities are the emergence of e-government and the addition of preparedness as a basic function of the public health system. Preparedness implies timely collaboration with government entities, community partners and…

In April 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) hosted a Forum, Emphasizing Evidence-Based Programs for Children and Youth, to convene the nation's leading practitioners and researchers with experience using and evaluating an array of evidence-based…

Psychology is one of the most popular elective high school courses. The high school psychology course provides the foundation for students to benefit from psychological perspectives on personal and contemporary issues and learn the rules of evidence and theoretical frameworks of the discipline. The guidelines presented here constitute the second…

The purpose of this report was to identify best practices in the design of college and university admissions facilities with the goal of enhancing recruitment and yield of prospective students. The Admissions Advisory Committee at the University of Rhode Island conducted a literature review examining the importance of the campus visit experience…

The primary purpose of this study is to share what has been found to work well in professional practice based on a series of exploratory scholarly studies as well as information gathered informally from students and through specialized aquatic workshops, conferences and seminars. Research has shown that there is an existing population of at-risk…

Lack of trust is an issue in doing research with schools. A School-Based Research and Practice Network was established by the University of Pittsburgh to create a regional research agenda. Over the past two years, Network staff held meetings with school staff in 43 districts to determine specific research needs, interests, and concerns. The most…

This article outlines a set of methodological, theoretical, and other issues relating to the conduct of good outcome studies. The article begins by considering the contribution of evidence-based medicine to the methodology of outcome research. The lessons which can be applied in outcome studies in nonmedical settings are described. The article…

Although several methods have been developed to allow for the analysis of data in the presence of missing values, no clear guide exists to help family researchers in choosing among the many options and procedures available. We delineate these options and examine the sensitivity of the findings in a regression model estimated in three random…

Recent research reveals that janitorial services account for nearly 30 percent of facility budgets, which translates into billions of dollars annually. With janitorial services consuming such a large share of budgets, other industry findings are alarming. Most cleaning systems: 1) have no quantifiable standards; 2) are based solely on appearance;…

Adequacy studies based on cost functions have come under attack. A recent Texas court battle featured two cost function studies that reached markedly different conclusions about the additional funding needed to meet designated performance goals. Some critics see such disparities as indicators of a general futility in the whole education cost…

This hermeneutic, interpretive case study reflects on an experience with the placement of a student in a specialized classroom who did not want to be there and had informed educators around her of this prior to her placement. She claimed she would "do anything to get kicked out of the placement" and ultimately, this happened. Through this case…

Changes in early childhood science, theory, and best practices for improving outcomes of children with motor delay or dysfunction and their families have evolved rapidly since EI began. Changes in daily early intervention (EI) practice have been more elusive. Closing the gap between knowledge and practice requires EI providers to piece together…

Nationally, there are dozens of established indicators of school performance and thousands of possible combinations of those indicators to create an accountability framework. How do policy makers decide which variables are most important? This relates to measurement modeling -- that is, how to incorporate all pieces of the puzzle into a…

"On Indian Ground: California" is the first in a series of ten books on American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian education. The focus of this text is the 110 tribes in California and the best practices available to educators of native students in K-16. This volume explores the history of California Indian education as well as…

"Digital Literacy in Higher Education, Part II: An NMC Horizon Project Strategic Brief" is a follow-up to the 2016 strategic brief, supported by Adobe, which explored an increasingly pressing challenge for United States higher education institutions: advancing digital literacy among students and faculty. This second edition aims to…