This practicum was developed to encourage the at-risk urban elementary school student to read for pleasure daily. Participants listened to their favorite rap songs, wrote lyrics for their own rap songs, and then read the lyrics as a text. The practicum was performed in a neighborhood community recreation center that serves urban students from…

A study investigated the introduction of an experimental school-centered and neighborhood-oriented communication system in a small midwestern town. It was anticipated that normal parent-teacher-school communication would be enhanced by the electronic messaging potential of the system. Researchers observed the entire adoption process from the…

This report documents an evaluation study of the Yellowstone (Alberta) school district's program of full integration of students with disabilities (from 1986-1991). The executive summary highlights the historical context, the implementation process, and program outcomes and impacts. The study's limitations are listed and recommendations are made…

The regression-discontinuity approach to evaluating educational programs is reviewed, and regression-discontinuity post-program mean differences under various conditions are discussed. The regression-discontinuity design is used to determine whether post-program differences exist between an experimental program and a control group. The difference…

The report details the activities of the federally-funded Multifunctional Resource Center for Bilingual Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which serves the area of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Its mission includes provision of training and technical assistance to educators and parents…

This report examines the efficacy of implementing Fairfax County's elementary language immersion program on a statewide basis in Virginia. The report discusses the current state of elementary foreign language programs in the state, and describes the Fairfax County immersion program for grades one through six. It then presents an evaluation of the…

The DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program teaches students decision-making skills, shows them how to resist peer pressure to experiment with drugs and alcohol, and provides positive alternatives to drug use. This report looks at one state's DARE programs. Included are an overview of the implementation process, a program appraisal with…

The Scholarship Program in New York City was created to provide full tuition reimbursement to people pursuing study toward the New York State Certification in various shortage areas in exchange for employment within the New York City Board of Education. Participants had to have been continuously enrolled in an academic program, and to have agreed…

The National Alliance of Business (NAB) reported recently on the National Workforce Assistance Collaborative that works with community colleges and other educational institutions to build their capacity to develop the work force of the 21st century. NAB had conducted a series of focus groups with participants from business, industry, education,…

The Skills Standards Projects have provided further emphasis on the need for benchmarking U.S. vocational-technical education (VTE) against international competition. Benchmarking is an ongoing systematic process designed to identify, as quantitatively as possible, those practices that produce world class performance. Metrics are those things that…

This report discusses the establishment and operation of the Federal Direct Student Loan Program (DL), enacted by Congress in 1993 to partially replace the existing federal guaranteed student loan programs with a single program that would make loans directly to postsecondary students through their schools. The DL program will be phased in over a…

This guide is the fourth in a series of guidelines designed to be a framework for positive action at the school site and in the classroom through the High Schools That Work (HSTW) program, an effort to raise the achievement of career-bound students. It details the process of accomplishing the HSTW's goals through an ongoing staff development…

Focussing on the 1991-92 academic year, this annual report for Daley College (DC) in Chicago, Illinois, provides descriptions and detailed data on exemplary programs and initiatives, DC efforts to improve educational programs, the comprehensive support services provided to students, efforts in the area of community relations, use of fiscal…

This study evaluated a Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools summer remedial reading and language mechanics skills program for participants in a job training program. The Summer Academic Skills Enhancement Program provided clients with the skills required for employment into entry-level positions in 160 curriculum hours. Seventy-one clients were…

Rock Point Community School's bilingual program is described. Located in the Navajo Nation in Northeast Arizona, the school began its English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in 1960 and bilingual education in 1967. In 1982, the first high school seniors were graduated. By 1988, 43 percent of Rock Point students were dominant Navajo speakers…