A group of 87 teacher certification candidates in a program at a large university in Southern California took the California Teaching Performance Assessment task for assessing learners in 2004-2005. These candidates' tests were analyzed with qualitative research methods and their scores calculated with quantitative methods. Subsequently, three…

In 2011, Taiwan's Ministry of Education conducted a national-scale appraisal of 92 CLIL programmes. However, we lack an effective model for examining by precisely how much improvement in the quality of the CLIL programmes will rise as a consequence of the increased language proficiency and the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge. To gain greater…

This Annual Plan presents the major initiatives and priorities the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's taxpayers and students. The Department continues to face significant challenges in FY 2017 that impact its…

Discusses the evaluation of library reference service; examines problems with past evaluations, including the lack of long-term planning and a systems perspective; and suggests a method for continuously monitoring and improving reference service using quality improvement tools such as checklists, cause and effect diagrams, Pareto charts, and…

The Community Science Workshops (CSWs)--with funding from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation--created a network among the CSW sites in California. The goals of the CSW Network project have been to improve programs, build capacity throughout the Network, and establish new sites. Inverness Research has been…

With 95% of students with disabilities receiving instruction in general education settings for some portion of the school day (U.S. Department of Education, 2012), educating students with disabilities has become an important dimension in the improvement of schools in the United States. Recent federal policies, including the Individuals With…

These four papers are from a symposium that was facilitated by Richard J. Torraco at the 1995 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD). "Performance Technology--Isn't It Time We Found Some New Models?" (William J. Rothwell) reviews briefly two classic models, describes criteria for the high performance workplace…

From 1981 through 1983, 32 schools in 28 districts participated in the pilot study authorized by California's School Attendance Improvement Act. On the basis of that study, the first of this report's two chapters offers six steps for a comprehensive approach to improving attendance: (1) assessing actual attendance, (2) developing policies and…

This report summarizes the major findings and recommendations of 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 (SEAs) in implementing, strengthening, and institutionalizing dissemination services that improve…

Problems in recruitment for big-time collegiate sports are updated, and an eleven-point improvement program is proposed. Statistics on football and basketball recruitment are updated, many through the 1985 season. New focus is placed on "blue chip" recruiting, and maps of recruiting by selected institutions, conferences, and states are…

This book presents an argument for school improvement and explains how it might be conducted. Three stages of evolutionary school improvement are identified and described: refinement, renovation, and redesign. It is suggested that the real task is not only innovating improvements; the real task is uniting teachers, administrators, and community…

The seven-member board of a Texas school district decided to scrutinize its own performance through a self-evaluation instrument used by each member to evaluate how the board functions, not how each individual functions. Benefits of board self-evaluation include reaffirmation of the board's role, encouragement of board harmony, and identification…

This paper describes an inservice training project in Colorado funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of the project is to create a self-sustaining and expanding network of trained leaders in geographic education. The project addresses: (1) the need to improve and expand the geographic literacy of U.S. citizens; (2) the…

Replicating Success, a school improvement program in Philadelphia, is designed to raise the achievement level of all students in 30 selected, racially isolated, low achieving schools. Each school undertakes an extensive needs assessment process and then develops an individualized schoolwide plan which takes into account the characteristics of…

Efforts to improve the quality of business communication often include developing tailor-made short courses that are offered "in-house" to corporation management personnel. These following guidelines, based on one corporate writing teacher's experiences, should help others to develop writing courses for businesses: obtain samples of the types of…