Reading Recovery (RR) is a short-term early intervention designed to help the lowest-achieving readers in first grade reach average levels of classroom performance in literacy. Students identified to receive Reading Recovery meet individually with a specially trained Reading Recovery (RR) teacher every school day for 30-minute lessons over a…

Assessment, accountability, and strategic planning are all processes that are included in accreditation for colleges and universities. For most colleges and universities, starting the reaffirmation process means identifying current assessment practices and reports from academic units and programs. This paper discusses the lessons learned during a…

The need for afterschool programs is clear: Research and practice demonstrate that quality afterschool programs keep youth safe; support working families; and provide critical learning, personal development, arts, and recreational opportunities. New York State alone uses nearly $300 million in local, state, and federal funds for afterschool…

This article examines the workings and underlying assumptions behind Enseñá por Argentina (Teach for Argentina), one specific program that takes part in the larger and expanding network of Teach for All, by thinking about the ways in which a global push for redefining teaching and teacher education encounters local characteristics and histories,…

In this paper the author evaluates the Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) program in the Rochester City School District, Rochester, NY. The author evaluates the system's strengths and weaknesses and discusses the program's alignment with New York State requirements. The paper addresses the benefits to teachers and the school district that…

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) reauthorized the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant and made modifications expected to strengthen work requirements for families receiving cash assistance through state TANF programs. Both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and states were required to take steps to…

This paper reveals a new evaluation model, which enables educational program and project managers to evaluate their programs with a simple and easy to understand approach. The "index of success model" is comprised of five parameters that enable to focus on and evaluate both the implementation and results of an educational program. The…

With the current emphasis on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers, it is important to ensure that every member of staff has the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding as outlined in the professional and occupational standards for the school workforce. As your practical guide to developing your staff,…

In 1995, the Indiana Association of Residential Child Care Agencies (IARCCA), an association of children and family services, responded to a request to demonstrate effectiveness of residential care. The organization developed a vision for evaluating outcomes that incorporated collaboration with others, use of data and projection toward the future.…

The strategic plan for providing college education outside of the traditional classroom environment has rapidly evolved over the past decade via electronic mediums. Advances in technology, along with increasing student enrollment size, have led many higher education institutions to begin offering distance education (web-based) courses. Current…

This article introduces a new approach to program theory evaluation called theory-based stakeholder evaluation or the TSE model for short. Most theory-based approaches are program theory driven and some are stakeholder oriented as well. Practically, all of the latter fuse the program perceptions of the various stakeholder groups into one unitary…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-446), enacted by the United States Congress on December 3, 2004, is the most recent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), federal legislation which is specifically focused on the education of children with disabilities. As of Fall…

In the 2007-2008 school year, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) implemented the Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program (SPBP). With funding from The Fund for Public Schools and the National Center on Performance Incentives, researchers from the RAND Corporation and Vanderbilt University…

Despite wave after wave of educational reform in the United States our students continue to lag behind their peers in other industrialized countries on virtually all measures of academic achievement. Effective professional development (PD) is seen as a key to improving instructional practice and therefore student learning, but traditional forms of…

This report responds to the legislative requirement of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L.110-246) to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Direct certification is a process conducted by the States and by local…