The Department of Teaching and Learning of Peabody College of Vanderbilt University developed a project to strengthen field experiences for elementary/early childhood teacher education students. The project was designed to use current research to revise the laboratory and practica programs, incorporating technology and simulated classroom…

This two-part document reports the results of a literature review of workplace literacy program evaluation and then details a study of two current workplace literacy programs. The five chapters of the first part summarize findings on what is known about workplace literacy programs, methods for evaluating workplace literacy programs, assessing…

This monograph presents an overview of the current status of programs for students with serious emotional disturbances in California and makes recommendations for program improvements. An introductory chapter summarizes important themes including screening, prevention, and early intervention; definitions; eligibility issues; assessment;…

This handbook is intended to help Chapter 1 project staff create a developmentally appropriate early childhood program for preschool and kindergarten through second grade. It is a companion piece to two workshops developed to acquaint early childhood staff with developmentally appropriate practices. An introduction describes the philosophy and…

The reference group summaries for the data from the October 1991 Comprehensive Assessment Reports for New York State are presented in two separate booklets, Part 1 and Part 2. The purpose of the reference group summaries is to enable school administrators to compare the data for their schools and school districts with those for the various…

This report examines the long-term impact of Academic Program Improvement (API) grants made from 1980 to 1986 at the California State University (CSU), by assessing the factors that contributed to or inhibited permanent adoption of successful innovations. Questionnaires from and interviews with project directors and administrators associated with…

The Extended Day Program (EDP) (previously known as the Before and After School Program) was first implemented at elementary schools in the Kansas City, Missouri School District in 1985-86. The EDP seeks to provide a place for children of working parents to stay before and after school and to give students the opportunity to engage in academic…

This report presents the results of an achievement and enrollment study of the law and public service magnet program at the Northeast Law and Public Service Magnet High School (Kansas City, Missouri). Achievement test scores for students in the program were at or slightly above those of the district as a whole for the 1990-1991 year. It also was…

Over the years, findings of the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) have had a significant impact on decisions made in the district and sometimes beyond it. The ORE's impact in the AISD is reviewed in 16 areas. Some of the major findings are summarized: (1) ORE studies of retention in…

An evaluative study was done of Project THISTLE (Thinking Skills in Teaching and Learning), a program designed to improve the basic skills of urban college-bound high school students by working with their teachers in an integrated process of curriculum and staff development. In particular, the evaluation looked at the impact of the program on…

Pennsylvania does not have a legislatively mandated program in place for assessing teacher education programs in institutions of higher education. This study was conducted to examine how Pennsylvania's public and private universities and colleges assess the quality of their teacher education programs. Deans and/or chairs of teacher education…

When evaluation is applied to teacher education programs in higher education, a myriad of issues emerge which make assessment complex and critical, especially during the era of reform. The purpose of this paper is to establish a comprehensive overview of assessment processes and reform efforts in teacher education programs. Organized into five…

A meta-assessment is provided of 15 pilot projects aimed at demonstrating how student outcomes of various kinds can be used to assess the effectiveness of general education and baccalaureate degree programs. The Student Outcomes Assessment projects funded by Academic Program Improvement grants of the California state university system, have…

An external evaluation was made of the Competitive Skills Project, a National Workplace Literacy Program carried out in partnership between El Camino College and BP Chemicals. Among the problems identified were the following: (1) because the original director and his successor left the project, the original evaluation design could not be…

The report describes activities of the Fort Berthold Reservation Public Library (North Dakota) Literacy Program to meet six objectives for the 1988-89 project year. The program was designed specifically to promote literacy among three Native American tribes, the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara. Objectives included acquisition of a library literacy…