Louisiana was the first state in the nation to develop and implement a statewide Value-Added Teacher Preparation Assessment to identify the extent to which teacher preparation programs prepare graduates to teach effectively in grades 4-9. The model was developed by Dr. George Noell (Louisiana State University and A&M College), piloted during…

Although pre-K students' average gains on the 2010-2011 Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT in English, TVIP in Spanish) significantly differed by vertical team, these differences were attributed more to the students' school or classroom rather than to the vertical team in which a school resided. [For "Prekindergarten Evaluation Series,…

The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore the role a School Community Council (SCC) played in encouraging community involvement in a kindergarten to grade 12 school. Via 35 interviews, thematic data reflected that the SCC's influence was limited. As analyzed through social capital theory, SCC members shared thin levels of trust,…

Because newborn hearing screening has become the standard of care in the United States, every state has established an early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) program responsible for establishing, maintaining, and improving the system of services needed to serve children with hearing loss and their families. While significant developments…

As an offshoot of the Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI), the Department of Linguistics at the University of Alberta offers a Community Linguist Certificate (CLC) program to speakers of First Peoples' languages of (mainly) Western Canada. The CLC program provides linguistic analysis and language documentation…

It has been widely acknowledged that an important indicator of a successful sojourn for international students is social integration into the host community. Despite seemingly regular opportunities to integrate, many international students report that their interactions with local residents remain superficial. The "Community Connections"…

The objective of this study is to assess the effects of the unique 1-year health-wellness program of exercise and health education for obese youth on body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure. The CEMHaVi program included 74 obese children. Participants, 19 girls and 18 boys, and controls, 17 girls and 20 boys, were assigned to treatment. The…

The implementation of Part C of IDEA has continued to evolve as states have built and modified service delivery systems. The number of children served has increased dramatically with nearly 350,000 children and their families now receiving early intervention services. Meanwhile, challenges to the provision of quality services--such as securing…

Many different sources of input are available to assistive technology innovators during the course of designing products. However, there is little information on which ones may be most effective or how they may be efficiently utilized within the design process. The aim of this project was to compare how three types of input--from simulation tools,…

Advocacy is central to the social work profession's commitment to social betterment and justice, yet much of what we know about it is based on conventional wisdom. We have little evidence on the effectiveness of interventions and even less on the costs and benefits of advocacy campaigns. This article discusses some of the conceptual and…

Children with motor difficulties are a very varied group. In order to target interventions more effectively researchers have attempted to identify specific sub-groups; however, attempts to identify sub-groups and provide interventions accordingly have met with limited success. Currently interventions can be classified into two main types, namely,…

Although the general conceptual basis appeared far earlier, theory-driven evaluation came to prominence only a few decades ago with the appearance of Chen's 1990 book "Theory-Driven Evaluations." Since that time, the approach has attracted many supporters as well as detractors. In this paper, 45 cases of theory-driven evaluations, published over a…

SPIRIT is a three year project designed to increase high school students' interests in and their desire to pursue IT careers. This paper examines the results of the project during its second year of implementation. All student participants, and in particular female students, experienced a positive change in perception of gender stereotypes in IT…

There is continued growth and development of outreach programs designed to increase pre-college students' awareness and understanding of engineering as a profession and as a career. These outreach programs vary in format and in the groups targeted for participation, but maintain the same fundamental goal of increasing participant knowledge of…

Mobile phone text messages (SMS) are a promising method of health promotion, but a simple and low cost way to obtain phone numbers is required to reach a wide population. We conducted a randomised controlled trial with simultaneous brief interventions to (i) evaluate effectiveness of messages related to safer sex and sun safety and (ii) pilot the…