The effectiveness of instructional development evaluation programs is assessed. It is suggested that although it is a basic tenet in instructional development that teaching improvement is closely linked to effective evaluation, it is ironical that most instructional development programs have themselves been evaluated only superficially, if at all.…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community College Count, this issue of "Data Notes" is the first of a two-part series investigating the characteristics of late stop-outs--students who accumulate at least 30 credits within the first two years, only to stop out without completing credentials or transferring. Seventy-five percent of…

A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted of Gordon, Kane, and Staiger's (2006) proposal to raise student achievement by identifying and replacing the bottom quartile of novice teachers, using value-added assessment of teacher performance. The cost effectiveness of this proposal was compared to the cost effectiveness of voucher programs, charter…

This investigation examined the value of using a multimethod-multisource approach to assess high-technology training systems. The research strategy was utilized to provide empirical information on the instructional effectiveness of the Reserve Component Virtual Training Program (RCVTP), which was developed to improve the training of Army National…

This publication presents a consolidated national picture of activity in recreation, leisure, and personal enrichment programs in Australia. It also details highlights, key features, and characteristics of activity in personal enrichment programs in 1996. Information has been collected from two main training provider groups: adult community…

Teachers' professional improvement programs mustbe individualized according to the teacher's self-assessment of the problem and provide for self-involvement in the improvement process. (MW)

This report supplements the final evaluation of the State Dissemination Grants Program (SDGP), a major initiative within the mission of the National Institute of Education to assist state educational agencies in implementing, strengthening, and institutionalizing dissemination services that improve educational practice and equity. A substudy was…

Professional development activities at Glenville State College, a small West Virginia liberal arts college, are discussed. The college's professional development committee awards funds for speakers/scholars, on-campus workshops, grants, professional meetings and conferences, and advanced study. A minimum of 20% of the 1987 funds will be committed…

The role of state government in improving the quality of undergraduate education and the impact of related state actions on colleges are discussed. The background of state interest in quality is reviewed. Four forces accounting for state interest in the quality of higher education are identified: a spillover from concern about quality in…

Using suggested guidelines for the improvement of inservice programs benefits," the process of the school evaluation was viewed as a form of staff education program was designed. In lieu of the idea that "team based problem solving can give individual teachers significant staff development benefits," the process of the school evaluation was viewed…

This beginning teacher program is a combination of a support and training program for first-year teachers in 12 school districts in Kansas. Participation is required and the program features regular meetings with the building principal, a year-long, performance-based skill training program, and a set of performance tasks which ask the beginning…

A school-based intervention, Changing Teacher Practice (CPT), was developed to teach school leaders, principals, and resource leaders what research has discovered to be effective teaching and effective staff development. CTP was designed to determine if research findings could be used to improve practice and whether practitioners in a school…

A discussion is presented of the work of the Educational Renewal Consortium, a national network for renewal in higher education and the public schools. The foremost characteristic of renewing institutions is recognizing the intractibility of some school problems and working collaboratively with other institutions to find solutions. Teachers in…

Based on the assumption that staff development is an essential element in changing school climate and must be collaborative and participative, this program also incorporated the theory that raising participant expectations will improve school climate. The University of Toledo and the Springfield Local Schools in Holland, Ohio, in 1979-80 jointly…

A description is given of administrative and policy changes made in an alternative school serving delinquent students at the high school level. Previous to a reorganization of the school, and the development of a different philosophy, the school was mainly attended by students simply because they were on probation and the only alternative to…