Conducting research about camp programs begins with asking a question and determining the nature of the question--whether it requires a needs assessment, an evaluation process, original data, or a cost/benefit analysis. Discusses factors to consider in deciding whether to allow existing staff members to conduct a study, or to contract with an…

South Carolina's Agricultural Service Laboratory received responses from 252 of 500 farmers who currently use the soil testing service; 97% were pleased with accuracy, 89% with turnaround time, 18% thought the fee too high. Nonusers (100 of 520) were mainly dissatisfied with turnaround time. Total quality management methods were used to improve…

Interviews with university, state, and local educators highlighted some of the admirable qualities of tech prep (relevance, value to non-college-bound students) and some barriers (lack of standards/guidelines, articulation problems, need for inservice training and employer involvement). (JOW)

This article addresses assumptions that currently guide personnel training and technical assistance in organizations providing services to people with disabilities. Implications of a quality improvement perspective are then considered as they apply to new perspectives on roles, on decision-making processes, and on evaluation. (DB)

Drawing on a realistic model for evaluating compensatory education effects, Chapter 1 staff members have developed a workshop series aimed at improving the effectiveness of local Chapter 1 programs. Improvement efforts are to be data driven, research based, team centered, locally controlled, systematic, and focused on student outcomes. (20…

Refutes three evaluation myths--(1) evaluation is findings; (2) outcomes are hard to measure; and (3) evaluation is an add-on--with three principles: (1) evaluation is a learning process; (2) soft data about important issues are better than hard data about unimportant issues; and (3) meaningful evaluation is integrated into teaching and learning.…

Four conditions for creating or refining alternative teacher certification programs are improving instruction, addressing shortages of qualified teachers, placing teachers in hard-to-staff schools, and measuring teacher competence. Programs should be pragmatic, market sensitive, embedded in the learning context, and performance driven. (SK)

Briefly reviews counseling profession's call for revitalization and transformation in school counseling and guidance programs. Summarizes one school system's efforts during late 1980s and early 1990s to transform its program from services and crisis orientation into a comprehensive developmental model based on Myrick's developmental guidance and…

Cooperative education as work-based learning has been around for decades. Co-op programs can be revitalized by using electronic communications with employers and customizing classroom assignments so they relate to students' work tasks. (Author/JOW)

Suggests a framework of six steps that can be used as a starting point to improve a secondary theater program to meet mandated standards: define motivation, study the standards, analyze the present program, create a planning team, determine student goals, and revise the curriculum. (PA)

The vision of continuing professional education should be reframed to place development of expertise and improvement of professional practice at the core. Providers would offer market-driven services that include education, evaluation, and consultation. (SK)

A master plan for updating keyboarding programs must ensure that five components work together: learner, teacher, curriculum, resources, and administration. Periodic evaluation ensures that the program is providing the skills needed. (SK)

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…