Examines implications of vocational education programs through investigations of Ontario education work experience programs. Argues that work programs provide opportunities for a critical counter-hegemonic pedagogy and the ethnographic investigations of such programs are valuable as a source of both a theoretical analysis of schooling and an…

Proposes that objective-referenced tests replace norm-referenced tests as a vehicle for program evaluation. Describes a methodology, based on latent trait theory, for joining norm-referenced and objective-referenced testing in a customized testing program. (TE)

To better meet the needs of a technologically changing workplace and large, diverse and mobile population, the West Virginia State Plan for the Administration of Vocational and Technical Education requires local education associations to utilize program advisory committees as a key source of input for program review and curriculum update.…

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Amendments of 1998 extended support for "career guidance and academic counseling." A wide variety of such interventions are in existence. Since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 emphasizes evidence-based education, it is important to examine the research to determine the…

If the year 1999 was dominated by the intense efforts of the federal government to establish guidelines for compliance with the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, the year 2000 was dominated by the field's efforts to implement plans to meet those guidelines. In addition to engaging in this time- and labor-intensive work, the field witnessed…

"Heritage Keepers[R]" is an abstinence education program developed by Heritage Community Services of South Carolina and is among the 900-plus programs receiving federal funding under the Title V, Section 510 Abstinence Education Program. The "Heritage Keepers[R]" program provides a systemic approach to abstinence education…

This issue of "Focal Point" explores some of what is known and unknown about strengthening social support. This introduction outlines some of the major concepts and themes in research on social support, and some implications of this research for interventions in children's mental health. This sets the stage for the rest of the issue, which…

This paper highlights the experiences of several citywide after school initiatives from the Cross-Cities Network, describing activities and strategies that contributed to building operational and sustainable citywide delivery of out-of-school time programs. The paper presents evidence of success and notes lessons learned, identifying key elements…

The Early Childhood Education Network was created as a result of a year-long collaborative project between the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) and the Policymaker Partnership to help states create an infrastructure to support the delivery of quality services to children and their families. The boards of education in six…

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a program evaluation conducted to examine the effectiveness of the Schools Attuned program in a north Texas school district. Schools Attuned was developed by a professor of pediatrics, Dr. Mel Levine (2002), as a professional development model to train teachers to identify cognitive and…

Universities are coming under increasing pressure to demonstrate accountability in operations that affect student enrollment and that contribute to the increased cost of higher education. Institutional researchers are responding by working to provide strategic data-driven decision support that enables managers to evaluate the benefit of dollars…

The seminar represents an effort on the part of the Center for Civic Education to create a forum in which teachers would become emotionally engaged with the artifacts, sites and experiences of those that lived through the Civil Rights Movement. The central hypothesis thereby being that such an engagement would transform the ability and willingness…

This paper examines the development of a comprehensive assessment system within a school-university educator preparation collaborative, detailing the evidence sources used in relation to the three categories into which the assessment system is organized (performance, process, and program). The Professional Development School Network (PDSN) was…

Disability research and program evaluation have generally been viewed with suspicion in Indian country because research designs, procedures, instruments, and interpretation and dissemination of outcomes have often ignored potential cultural conflicts. This paper explores a national evaluation in eight tribal communities that established systems of…

Noting that little is known about the costs and effectiveness of family support services, this study examined the full range of services provided to 40 families in need by two local authorities in North Wales. The study compared costs in the two authorities and well-being for the families after 3 months. Findings indicated that the families in the…