The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program, a component of the 1988 Family Support Act, emphasizes education and occupational training for welfare recipients, but it has not provided sufficient corrective measures to promote work among recipients of Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The most serious deficiency of JOBS is…

This brief describes new requirements for vocational education program improvement and evaluation mandated by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990. Recommendations to enhance the impact of program improvement and evaluation activities are included. The first two sections discuss developing new state…

This brief report describes six 2- to 3-day specialized workshops conducted at Texas Tech University and Stephen F. Austin University campuses for 121 secondary agriscience teachers. The workshops provided teachers with instruction and materials to assist them in teaching the new 100, 200, and 300 level semester courses. Topics were as follows:…

A survey of various reform efforts was made to clarify the similarities and differences between them and efforts to integrate vocational and academic education. The survey revealed four distinct approaches to school reforms: (1) teacher professionalization; (2) curricular and teaching reform; (3) schools of choice; and (4) restructuring. According…

A study was conducted to determine adult learners' perceptions of their undergraduate evening programs and, at the same time, provide those same adult learners with an active learning research experience. Fifty-item questionnaires focusing on class scheduling, student characteristics and activity participation, quality of services offered, and…

A random nationally generalizable sample of 563 public and private nonprofit institutions offering up to 2 years of postsecondary education (response rate, 85%) was studied to determine the status of vocational program quality before and after passage of the 1990 Perkins amendments. Data on vocational program enrollments, initial changes to…

This paper presents a five-year plan for the improvement of Pennsylvania's system of services for people with mental retardation and their families. It was developed over an 18-month period by 70 people, including people with disabilities, family members, advocates, providers of service, legislative staff, and county and state government…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on organization development and change. "The Effectiveness of Total Quality Management: A Response to the Critics" (Douglas H. Smith, Ralph G. Lewis) identifies four effectiveness principles: customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, speaking with facts, and respect for people. "Fast Cycle…

Much of the extensive diagnosis, testing, and data collection that now occur in reading clinics is time consuming and unnecessary. Private and university-based reading clinics, however, need to provide worthwhile activities that support students' literacy learning while they consider the important relationship of instruction and evaluation. After…

This technical assistance guide was developed to help state policy makers develop performance-standard incentive policies that are effective tools in accomplishing state and federal goals for Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs. The guide is organized in three sections. The first section introduces incentive policies as tools to further…

An Urban League project in Springfield, Illinois, provided instruction in small business management to persons who had been convicted of a crime. Phase II of the project required designing a self-instructional workbook and tape to be used when classes were not available. A resource guide listing agencies providing assistance to business persons…

This document contains the final evaluation profile for the Bilingual Academic Services and Integrated Career Systems (Project BASICS). A brief extract presents an overview of salient points of the project: funding cycle; enrollment figures; background of students served; admission criteria; and programming features, strengths, and limitations,…

A summary of an inquiry into the educational system of Newfoundland (Canada) presents the model for change designed by the Royal Commission of Inquiry, and the process used by the commission to obtain information. Public opinion on denominational education is examined, and costs of denominational schooling are explored. The commission sought to…

A study examined the views, outcomes, and recommendations of members of the graduating classes of 1986-87, 1989-90, and 1990-91 of Salt Lake City School District's high schools. Of the 3,990 survey instruments mailed to potential respondents, 1,010 were undeliverable and 1,292 surveys were returned for an overall district response rate of 43.36%.…

A review of the literature was conducted to describe the field of program evaluation, to identify useful sources of information on the topic, and to outline concepts and methodologies that have been proposed for planning and conducting evaluations of education and training programs. The results of the review showed that the failures of early…