This report examines critical issues that rural educators face in establishing preschool programs. Even Start is a federal program designed to meet the educational needs of preschool children who have under-educated parents. In addition to participating in their child's education, the program requires parents to enroll in educational or vocational…

This paper describes the implementation of the School-Based Improvement (SBI) model in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), Texas, which was piloted by a total of 28 schools during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 school years. Evaluation was conducted through a review of campus improvement plans and student achievement data, interviews with six…

The Puget Sound Educational Consortium (PESC) is a partnership of 11 school districts in the Puget Sound, Washington, area and the College of Education at the University of Washington. The partnership is based on the following assumptions: a belief in the school as a primary unit of change; a commitment to political inquiry; the development of…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the effectiveness of the guidance program used by change agents in the Dutch School Improvement Project (NSIP) on program implementation. Sixteen schools composed the experimental group and 13 made up the control group. The experimental variable was the guidance strategy of the NSIP. The two…

Issues in and suggestions for designing and implementing an interdisciplinary or integrated curriculum are discussed in this book. The first section reviews current research concerning interdisciplinary curriculum. Chapter 1 describes various types and purposes of such curriculum, and chapter 2 presents a step-by-step process for designing…

A workplace literacy demonstration project involving a hospital and a manufacturing company in New York City was conducted between May 1992 and June 1993. Two classes in the spring and fall were conducted. A total of 41 hospital personnel and 30 manufacturing company employees began the training, and 25 hospital employees and 27 manufacturing…

Based on the belief that the transition from learning to read to reading to learn can be facilitated by tailoring learning experiences to individual preferences, this book describes an affective-based 3-week summer reading program for students entering first through sixth grades. The first part of the book describes the philosophy of the program,…

In order for schools and community agencies to develop the capacity to support persons with severe patterns of problem behaviors in typical community settings, they need to be knowledgeable about recent behavioral advances and have processes in place for implementation of these advances. This need creates a new challenge for inservice training of…

This guide is intended to help develop and implement an outcomes assessment program at the school, district, or state level. An introduction summarizes the purposes of this approach to assessment, which focuses on results rather than process. A four-step process is outlined. The first step is to establish a solid foundation for assessment efforts,…

This report presents preliminary findings of a 5-year study evaluating the effectiveness of state-funded prekindergarten programs in Texas. The two components of the study included in this report are (1) a statewide survey of 507 school districts, focusing on prekindergarten program characteristics, implementation, and parents' perceptions of the…

The purpose of these guidelines is to help the reader organize and lead a study circle--a participatory, democratic discussion group that focuses on a social or political issue. It provides detailed instructions on how to organize and lead a successful study circle. Following the introduction, section 2 focuses on the role of the organizer and…

Noting that every community is faced with providing high quality, affordable, and accessible child care, and that child care resource centers (CCRCs) are among the best tools for helping communities meet child care needs with the combined resources of the community, this manual is designed to help CCRCs design a public education program to meet…

This publication consists of two parts: an overview of tech prep in Western Wisconsin and the Tech Prep Strategic Plan for Western Wisconsin. The overview combines reduced-size pages (four to a page) with full-size pages that include the following: the definition of tech prep; legislative mandate; rationale; benefits of tech prep; tech prep…

This Digest discusses the increase in the number of immigrant secondary school students who come to the United States with limited education and effective programs for serving this student population. For these students to succeed in school, they must learn to read, write, understand, and speak English, develop academic literacy in English to make…

This paper examines the cultural politics that arise when the decision is made to place health services in schools and suggests ways in which the different discourses that surface regarding program implementation might be reconciled. The policy analyses for the paper were based on a 2-year statewide evaluation of a supplemental school health…