The Saturday School Alternative for at-risk students provides educators with a realistic framework, time, and community resources to help resolve almost any student problem encountered. Based on effective schools research, the program is no panacea but a realistic attempt to modify student behavior by providing experiences that will build a…

Countless American schools are progressing toward effectiveness, ensuring that all students, regardless of family income, sex, or ethnicity, reach basic peformance levels in reading, mathematics, and language arts. Others are moving beyond effectiveness toward excellence and true equity. The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL)…

A study was conducted to explore the question of what works in secondary vocational education--whether exemplary vocational programs can be identified, whether their key features can be described, and whether there are lessons to be learned that can assist others in devising strategies to improve secondary vocational education. Methodology…

Almost from the beginning, the junior high school was based on the same vision driving today's middle level schooling: the creation of a unique middle tier of education that bridges the gap between elementary and secondary education and focuses on meeting early adolescent students' academic and personal needs. In the 1950s and 1960s, middle school…

This document, the first part of a two-part evaluation of the third-year implementation of New York City's 3-year Dropout Prevention Initiative (DPI), is the final evaluation report of implementation of the DPI middle school component, called the Dropout Prevention Program (DPP), conducted in 29 schools. Case-management services and some…

The compendium presents a view of 70 programs participating in the Illinois supported employment initiative. A preliminary chapter analyzes the implementation of supported employment in Illinois. It provides a brief history of the Illinois supported employment initiative, describes the Illinois Supported Employment Project, examines the impact of…

This report presents nationally representative data to contrast and compare programs developed under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 with special education programs for mildly handicapped pupils in elementary schools, called for by Part B of the Education of the Handicapped Act. The report describes differences…

The goal of the Hamilton and Waterloo Catholic School Boards in Ontario, Canada, is to meet the needs of all children, in ordinary, age-appropriate classes in neighborhood schools. This report focuses on this approach of teaching students and disabilities, terming it "full inclusion." The report describes local school board policy and…

This paper presents findings from a recently completed study of the use of computers in primary classrooms as one source of evidence concerning the role technology can play in school restructuring efforts. The sites for the study were selected by Apple Computer, Inc. in the spring of 1988 and included 43 classrooms in 10 schools in 6 large, mostly…

A project was conducted at Delaware County Community College, Media, Pennsylvania, to train two instructional staff members in the area of composite materials technology. A 1-year training program was set up for the two technical instructional specialists at the Boeing Helicopter Training Center, Eddystone, Pennsylvania. The program consisted of…

This handbook was written to enable elementary school educators to conduct formative evaluations of their computer integrated instruction (CII) programs in minimum time. CII is defined as the use of computer software, such as word processing, database, and graphics programs, to help students solve problems or work more productively. The first…

This digest highlights the planning phase of developing and implementing middle school foreign language programs, focusing particular attention on program types and criteria for selecting an appropriate program. Specific issues addressed include the following: (1) Which language or languages should be taught? (2) At what grade level should foreign…

This document describes a project intended to: (1) render the description, assessment, and evaluation of adult education more relevant to administrators, politicans, and the general public; (2) quantitative and qualitative indicators of relevance to the evaluation of adult education in Sweden; and (3) make recommendations to the Swedish National…

A significant body of research from business and industry has generally confirmed the contribution of participative decision-making to improved organizational effectiveness and employee morale. Following a literature review, this paper explores the implementation of shared decision-making in the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Public Schools. The…

The paper examines varieties of program assessment in institutions of higher education and proposes a procedure to implement systematic assessment of program outcomes. Presented in a question-and-answer format, the paper first addresses common faculty concerns about formal assessment in sections titled, "Why Not Use GPA (Grade Point Average)?" and…