An evaluation of the developmental first grade, or pre-first grade, program of the Irving Independent School District (Texas) was conducted through four studies. Students are placed in the pre-first grade as a transition between kindergarten and first grade, typically on the basis of some assessment of maturity. The first study examined the…

Signed in April 1996, Executive Order (E.O.) 12999, "Educational Technology: Ensuring Opportunity for All Children in the Next Century," was intended to promote the transfer of unneeded federal government computer equipment to schools and educational nonprofit organizations. This report examines the supply and distribution of surplus…

This text gives an overview of distance education for students, administrators, and practitioners in distance education. Chapter 1 discusses the study of distance education. Chapter 2 analyzes forms of nonconventional education (open, nontraditional) that may have similarities to distance education but are not to be identified with it. Chapter 3…

An evaluation examined how the Danish leave schemes, an offer to employed and unemployed persons who qualify for unemployment benefits, were functioning and to what extent the objectives have been achieved. It was found that 60 percent of those taking leave had previously been unemployed; women accounted for two-thirds of those joining the scheme;…

Current research suggests that teacher development evolves in stages, and that teacher concerns as professionals are central to teacher development. The concerns theory suggests that teacher growth involves a gradual change from concerns about self, to concerns about the task at hand, to concerns about the connections and implications of self,…

The Southwest Regional Laboratory conducted a 1-year outcome evaluation of the 4-H After School Activity Program (4-H ASAP) in Los Angeles (California). The 4-H ASAP is designed to meet the needs of children aged 7 to 13 who live in urban public housing communities. The program creates a nurturing environment that offers a positive alternative to…

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was amended in 1996 to authorize funding for the Title I Migrant Education program to provide educational and counseling assistance to eligible children of migratory farm and fishery workers. An evaluation was conducted of the implementation of the migrant education program in the Houston…

This checklist is intended to be used as a rating instrument to assist in the design and description of classroom learning environments that provide for student diversity, including the mainstreaming of students with disabilities. Specific purposes of the checklist are to provide a framework for describing the organizational characteristics of…

In summer 1990, the English Department of the Metropolitan Community College District (MCCD) in Missouri conducted a self-study to determine whether the English program's subject matter, academic standards, and methods of instruction were consistent with objectives. An Evaluation Committee, consisting of three English instructors representing each…

Wetland Perspectives, a 2-week teacher workshop held in July 1995, aimed to increase teacher understanding of some aquatic habitats of Wisconsin through Western scientific and Native American cultural perspectives. Workshop objectives included giving participants a more complete understanding of Wisconsin's wetlands, an opportunity to learn about…

Four Title I schoolwide programs in the Austin Independent School District (Texas) at the elementary school level were selected for inclusion in a Title I Best Practices review of schoolwide programs. The Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 reauthorized Title I, the Federal Government's major compensatory education initiative, and authorized…

This book provides an overview of training in business along with a step-by-step guide for trainers to use in designing and presenting training programs for adults. The 10 chapters cover the following: (1) the training field--what it is; (2) designing the course; (3) delivering the course--the start-up; (4) learning theory; (5) course members; (6)…

This newsletter theme issue describes a state-local team partnership model for interagency transition efforts for young adults with deaf-blindness. Excepts from a presentation by Jane M. Everson identify key aspects and characteristics of effective state and local interagency partnerships. These include: (1) strategies for initiating and…

These planning guides are intended to help vocational rehabilitation programs and agencies identify important issues during preliminary discussions concerning possible use of assistive technology and technology-related services. They are designed to evaluate the effectiveness of current technology-related services, to implement or expand assistive…

A program of faculty development was designed and implemented at Andrews University (Michigan). The training design included presentation of instructional theory, demonstration of instructional strategies, practice of the strategies by participants, feedback on practice sessions, and on-going peer- and instructor-support. The following topics were…