After an evaluation by students rated the administrative internship in a leadership preparation program as valuable but not rigorous, two faculty members at Valdosta State College (Georgia) evaluated the program and recommended revisions, using peer coaching for professional development and program improvement. (SLD)

Describes a student-centered, open evaluation system used in the University of Sydney's problem-based medical program. Describes how quantitative and qualitative student feedback is collected for individuals, groups, and years, and how the feedback is managed to effectively support improvement in course quality. (EV)

Surveyed Ohio safe and drug-free school coordinators regarding their perceptions of how to improve safe and drug-free school programs. Training topics considered most beneficial included effective techniques for enhancing youth success, building parent-school-community partnerships, and providing conflict resolution skills. Lack of time and school…

Suggests that action research provides ownership and often results in a sense of efficacy by engaging practitioners in the change process. Describes the practitioner-based movement in professional development and program improvement in Pennsylvania. (JOW)

Discusses the steps to ensure that assessment leads to genuine improvement: (1) agreeing on goals based on recognized standards; (2) establishing yearly objectives that help meet those goals; (3) developing a formal method for reporting the attainment of those objectives; and (4) using the assessment of the program as a part of the media…

Abstinence-only programs for preventing teen pregnancy are the only options in some states but are the programs of choice in others. Effectiveness data, however, are lacking. The SOS Adolescent Family Life Program (SOS), an abstinence-only teen pregnancy prevention program, was implemented in south central Louisiana. Peer mentoring with an…

This report is based on a paper that was presented at the 2004 Biregional Randolph-Sheppard Training Conference in Philadelphia. A review of various state licensing agency (SLA) policy manuals by the author revealed no specific SLA policies on reciprocity or guidelines on setting up and managing facilities out of state or on the recognition of…

The UMass Lilly Teaching Fellows early career faculty development program was rated a success at its 10-year mark by fellows who were asked in a survey to assess the program and its effects on their careers. In order not only to continue the program's success but improve upon it, the UMass Center for Teaching, guided by the survey, significantly…

Examples are provided about ways to change professional and ethical practices to promote the creation of a culture that facilitates and equitably recognizes collaboratively produced scholarship. (Contains 1 table.)

Human service fields, and more specifically public health, are increasingly requiring evaluations to prove the worth of funded programs. Many public health practitioners, however, lack the required background and skills to conduct useful, appropriate evaluations. In the late 1990s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created the…

Back in 2000, Charles Best was teaching at Wings Academy, an alternative high school in the Bronx, when he got the idea for a Web site where teachers could solicit donations for class projects. With help from his students, DonorsChoose.org soon was born. Last year, the site won Amazon.com's Nonprofit Innovation Award. So far, DonorsChoose has…

The purpose of this study was to develop a model for evaluating a professional development school program to enact an evidence-based model for a continuous cycle of program improvement. Guided by the logic model for program evaluation, we developed three survey instruments based on the professional development school standards of the National…

Teacher preparation programs nationwide struggle to meet rigorous national standards, particularly as they relate to the assessment standard of the National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). There are many issues which make decisions about program improvement complex, often confusing and frustrating faculty. These include the…

Doctoral programs in the humanities and related social sciences are characterized by high attrition and long times to degree. In 1991 the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation launched the Graduate Education Initiative (GEI) to improve the quality of graduate programs and in turn reduce attrition and shorten time-to-degree. Over a 10-year period, the…

School leaders' values and dispositions impact the quality of education in their schools. Effective schools and appropriate leadership dispositions must be assessed and standardized models must be developed to give direction for future growth. The accrediting agencies and the college of education at a mid-sized state university in a southern state…