This dissertation examines the history, funding, structure, efficacy, and challenges of dual enrollment programs in English (and more specifically in First-Year Composition, FYC, courses) that provide access to higher education for high school students prior to graduation, as these programs have developed and currently operate in the United…

Since established by an Appropriations Act in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) competitive grant program in the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has supported human capital strategies "to ensure that students attending high-poverty schools have better access to effective teachers and principals, especially in hard-to-staff subject…

This program evaluation took place in Harnett County Schools, North Carolina. This study evaluated two common reading intervention programs currently used in the Harnett district. This evaluation compared and examined the effectiveness of Reading Recovery and Leveled Literacy Intervention on a subset of students at Highland Elementary School, a…

Although program evaluations using rigorous quasi-experimental or experimental designs can inform decisions about whether to continue or terminate a given program, they often have limited ability to reveal the mechanisms by which complex interventions achieve their effects. To illuminate these mechanisms, this paper analyzes novel text data from…

Despite decades of formal work with teachers, little is known about what they gain from professional development at and with historic sites. This article presents the first data-set from a 3-year Institute for Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant project designed to develop a broad-based assessment for understanding what teachers…

Background: Over the past decade, there has been a shift in science, technology, engineering and math education, especially in engineering, towards a competency-based pedagogy. Competency-based learning (CBL) is an outcome-based, student-centered form of instruction where students progress to more advanced work upon mastering the necessary…

The authors introduce the Preparation in STEM Leadership Program at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. This NSF-Funded program and research study creates a centralized training program for peer leaders that includes a battery of assessments to evaluate peer leaders' content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, communication skills, and…

Evidence from formal evaluation of real-world practice can address gaps in the public health knowledge base and provide information about feasible, relevant strategies for varied settings. Interest in evaluability assessment (EA) as an approach for generating practice-based evidence has grown. EA has been central to several structured assessment…

In recent years, performance management (PM) has become a buzzword in public sector organizations. Well-functioning PM systems rely on valid performance data, but critics point out that conflicting rationale or logic among professional staff in recording information can undermine the quality of the data. Based on a case study of social service…

In Fall 2014 the University of Maryland Libraries launched a textbook reserves program to help relieve the burden of high textbook costs on students. Although its initial performance was lackluster, workflow refinements and expanded promotion greatly improved usage, resulting in a tenfold increase in circulation and expansion of the program. This…

Traditional e-Learning environments are based on static contents considering that all learners are similar, so they are not able to respond to each learner's needs. These systems are less adaptive and once a system that supports a particular strategy has been designed and implemented, it is less likely to change according to student's interactions…

This theoretical development article examines how design methodology currently applied in United States military doctrine can offer insights into the increasingly complex arena of program evaluations of online modes for adult distance education. The article presents key themes that emerge from a multidisciplinary literature review. These themes…

Full and durable implementation of school-based interventions is supported by regular evaluation of fidelity of implementation. Multiple assessments have been developed to evaluate the extent to which schools are applying the core features of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS). The "SWPBIS Tiered Fidelity…

The authors describe social validity assessment of mindfulness education and practices among high school students (N = 84) participating in a 10-week instructional program. The participants rated their satisfaction with and acceptance of several program components, content areas, and outcomes, as well as their engagement in specific mindfulness…

We investigated the impacts of a peer-facilitated instructional intervention in mathematics on progress towards readiness for college among 10th graders who facilitated instruction for 9th graders in algebra classrooms in urban secondary schools. A goal of the intervention is to promote readiness for college by placing middle-performing students…