From a synthesis of findings culled from a study that examined partnerships of families and communities with middle schools at multiple sites, researchers derived eight "lessons" that can help foster understanding of the nature of family-school partnerships in the middle grades. Researchers also elaborated implications of these lessons,…

Formative, in-process evaluation results can be used to refine or "fine tune" Even Start programs. The assumption is that the programs have obtained comprehensive and appropriate empirical data on the assessment of the program as a whole as well as its specific goals. This six-step model uses evaluation data to improve program delivery.…

The purpose of this curriculum is to provide high school teachers and students with a conceptual framework for analyzing energy and environmental issues, especially in regards to economics. A second purpose of the curriculum is to provide teachers with a set of four motivating, interdisciplinary teaching units. The issues covered in the four…

A 67-item Assessment Practices Inventory (API) was administered to 311 inservice teachers. The application of principal components analysis to the data yielded a 6-factor solution that explained 64% of the variance. The Rasch rating scale model was applied to the API to estimate item calibrations. The factor analyzed assessment categories were…

This is a first-hand account of the process used in selecting undergraduates at Stanford University (California) between 1984 and 1991. The topics covered are also relevant to the procedures followed in many four-year colleges throughout the United States. There are sections on the use and abuse of standardized tests and on special considerations…

This report provides summary statistics on the entering freshmen classes of the 34 state institutions of higher education in the University System of Georgia, and is intended to assist in advising prospective students concerning their probable success in college. The formulas for predicting average freshmen grades (AFG) are intended primarily for…

School reform in the 1990s has been focused on school-based restructuring, with local efforts shown to be more successful than earlier central or remote control approaches. Success has followed changes in teachers' classroom behavior, in the structure of the school, and its school culture. The local school restructuring approach is illustrated…

A study investigated the effectiveness of an innovative approach to the case study in teaching educational administrators in master's and doctoral programs. Subjects were 80 students in three institutions. The method uses "case stories," which differ from conventional case studies in that they are highly personal written accounts of real events…

This guide presents a framework that identifies what a home, school, and community partnership can do to help families thrive as they experience change and their young children grow. The guide explains how connections among home, school, and community enable families to move from setting to setting with ease and build on their previous experience.…

This manual and related 41-minute video was produced by a 5-year federally funded project to foster collaboration between special education and child care staff in early childhood programs. The approach is based on a structured, relationship-based, problem solving framework, "Going Around the Circle." The process involves five steps: (1)…

This collection of nine papers summarize research on the economics of university functioning including production processes, incentives and governance structures, cost and supply behavior, student attendance demands, and funding environments. The nine papers are: (1) "The Higher Education Production Function: Theoretical Foundations and Empirical…

This publication reports on a pilot program on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and life skills training implemented in 12 schools in Pretoria, Laudium, Cape Town, and Soweto (South Africa). Data were collected through pre- and post-questionnaires and focus group interviews. The purpose of the program was to provide adolescents with…

This report details enrollment projections for the public colleges and universities in Maryland through the year 2005. There are headcount projections for each higher education institution, with breakdowns by full- and part-time undergraduates and, as applicable, full- and part-time graduate/professional students. Projections are based on the…

This book aims to help parents, community members, and educators find resources, design school options, and take action together to improve small rural schools in ways that meet community and student needs. Chapter 1 discusses the virtues of smallness, outlines basic assumptions about the role and nature of good education, examines the…

This book is addressed to educators and work-place trainers interested in applying the Malcolm Baldrige award criteria and/or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 training guidelines for program improvement. An initial section compares and contrasts the ISO standards and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award…