This report examines the program improvement strategies, step-by-step, that allowed The James Irvine Foundation's Communities Organizing to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative to achieve the levels of quality needed to boost the academic success of participating students, and makes policy and funding suggestions for improving program performance.…

A need for the development of a policy research base regarding state implementation pf evidence-based practice (EBP) is emphasized. Efforts are made on how to make use of EBP in everyday clinical practice as a means of improving outcomes in six states.

This article presents an approach to systematic reviews that combines the Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice standards and the realist notion of contexts-mechanisms-outcomes (CMO) configurations. Both approaches have their advantages and drawbacks, and the authors will make a case for combining both approaches to profit from their advantages…

Over the past 30 years, researchers have repeatedly demonstrated the need to improve academic advising. Nonetheless, at many Universities academic advising remains a neglected endeavor--poorly measured, managed and rewarded. This paper considers the implementation of an academic advising program which parallels the 360-Degree feedback approach…

This paper describes the use of advisory boards in the development of two competency-based business programs: one graduate and the other undergraduate. Though the programs varied significantly in structure and content, both used focus group methodology to collect comprehensive and relevant input from advisory board members comprised of local…

Technology-based initiatives have transformed the process of teaching and learning activities at formal institutions generally and distance education institutions particularly. Distance education is at the heart of the digital age making maximum use of the emerging technologies. Researchers have favoured computer mediated communications (CMC) for…

In 2007, the physical education program at Sunnyside Middle School in Lafayette, Indiana, was in constant flux. Teacher turnover occurred annually, facilities were subpar, the curriculum was outdated, opportunities for professional development were rare, and most importantly, students lacked maximum movement opportunities in physical education. In…

Recent work has shown that many state supported school counseling programs have not developed working statewide program evaluation schemas. This study examined two exemplary examples of state level program evaluation. Mixed-method case studies were created and then analyzed across cases to reveal common themes and best practices. The findings…

The effectiveness of a unique model of in-service training involving U.S. teacher educators and school teachers from Belize, Central America, is described based upon findings from a consecutive three-year period of the project. An evaluation component was integrated to provide a structure for program improvement, in which formative and summative…

"Tell me your story" is a phrase popularly being promoted in the business setting during recent years. The power of storytelling can be utilized in student teacher reflection as a strategy for making connections between theory and practice in authentic classroom environments and enabling preservice teachers to actively develop plans for growth. A…

This article applies to class size research Grant and Graue's (1999) position that reviews of research represent conversations in the academic community. By extending our understanding of the class size reduction conversation beyond published literature to the perspectives of researchers who have studied the topic, we create a review that includes…

Objective: Educational program evaluation and program improvement are processes that can be enhanced by involving multiple stakeholders and measurement tools. The purpose of this study was to compare faculty and resident physician perceptions of both teaching quality and resident competence for 13 core psychiatric skills and the six Accreditation…

Current literature on the effectiveness of structured mentoring or induction programs for new counselors is lacking. Concurrently, new school counselors often experience difficulty in assuming the professional responsibilities associated with their role during the initial year of practice. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions…

Much controversy exists regarding the effectiveness of residential treatment. Recently, emerging research has demonstrated that community-based residential treatment has more positive long-term outcomes for youth. This article describes a community-based program that was implemented at a residential treatment agency serving youth. Targeted…

Young and healthy undergraduates in health education were not predisposed to learn the complex sprawl of topics in a required course on U.S. Health Care. An online simulation of health care reform was used to encourage student learning about health care and participating in health care reform. Students applied their understanding of high costs,…