Recent surveys have provided some guidance and recommendations for the student teaching component in early childhood teacher preparation, but specific information on the focus of supervision and evaluation of student teachers is limited. The current study surveyed 128 early childhood programs in 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education…

Gestalt practice and arts-based training has been examined and evaluated using evidence from the literature and personal experience. Gestalt practice allows the training and learning process to take into account the intrapersonal as well as the interpersonal aspects of the group and the individuals involved: the resulting knowledge and…

E-books offer a range of benefits to both educators and students, including ease of accessibility and searching capabilities. However, the majority of current e-books are repository-cum-delivery platforms of textual information. Hitherto, there is a lack of empirical research that examines e-books with annotative and sharing capabilities. This…

Researchers examined the impacts of the Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship program on academic and behavioral outcomes of students in grades 9-12 in Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS). The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship program offers college scholarships to graduating high school students in the KPS district. The percentage of tuition and fees covered is…

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the final issue brief in their latest series of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief explores afterschool and data utilization to improve…

Stories contain the wisdom of the world, teaching cultural values. Story builds community, celebrates cultural diversity, and preserves cultural identity. Where truth has been suppressed, story is an instrument of epiphany; story builds literacy skills and develops metaphorical understanding. A storytelling center in Ontario, Canada, had been a…

The purpose of this study was to describe how states in the REL Central Region (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) evaluate teacher preparation programs and planned changes for evaluation. Publicly available documents were reviewed and interviews were conducted with state education agency representatives…

In 2010, the National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement (NCLCE) established the Schools of Success, a national network of 19 schools that use service-learning as an instructional strategy. The schools were part of a three-year project to examine how the elements of service-learning might enhance key student outcomes, such as academic…

As educators are increasingly called on to use data to inform improvement initiatives (and are being held accountable for doing so), there is a corresponding need for program leaders to monitor progress. Program monitoring--the systematic and continual observation and recording of key program aspects--can provide leaders with realistic assessments…

As school districts and communities struggle to increase civic engagement for their students, a medium-sized suburban school district implemented required community service hours as part of their high school graduation requirements. The purpose of this qualitative program evaluation was to investigate how the community service program was meeting…

The California Community College mission requires offering relevant Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. Due to program accretion and bureaucratic inertia, program discontinuance (PD) seems at odds with postsecondary culture. Yet, as a result of recent budget constrictions, community colleges are forced to identify effective PD…

This case describes an ongoing effort to develop and implement an innovative developmental evaluation framework to support a community-based youth violence prevention system in Seattle, Washington, called the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative. This initiative began in 2009 in response to several gang-related homicides, and now serves…

This case study shares the research process of one upper level undergraduate research methods course for Communication Studies and Public Relations students at a mid-sized public college in the Northeastern United States. As a way to demonstrate both quantitative and qualitative research, students worked on survey design for three different…

With an approach to teaching as a performing art, this study investigated the effects of creative drama on eight teaching skills and perceptions of 15 ELT (English Language Teaching) student teachers who took part in a 30-hour creative drama workshop. Their video-recorded teaching in a real classroom atmosphere was observed and evaluated by the…

Among the academic challenges faced by students from low-socioeconomic status (SES) homes is the loss of academic skills during the summer months. A total of 22 elementary students from low-SES homes participated in a summer program designed to improve oral and written narrative skills. We gathered oral and written narrative samples at the…