The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effect of small-group instruction on the vocabulary and comprehension of first-grade students identified with low language and low vocabulary skills. Overall, 102 first-grade students scoring below the 50th percentile on relational vocabulary were blocked by classroom, matched according to…

This paper will highlight the successful evaluation approaches deployed for long-term exploration of the impact of a national policy initiative as well as some of the results and outcomes. An interactive feedback process informed decision-making at the national and local level thereby enhancing both the initiative and its implementation in…

Those people involved in the professional development school (PDS) effort have arrived at a time in their brief history when PDS partnerships can break the status quo and become contemporary laboratories of innovation for ushering in change and a new era of PK-12 education integrated with teacher education. In this chapter, the author appreciates…

The purpose of this study was to explore the manner in which a community college district planned to implement a systematic outcomes-based assessment program review process in order to have results inform institutional, district, and state policy discussions. Data derived from this grounded theory study indicated that there was not a shared…

The Community Outreach Centre (COC) is part of the Community Development portfolio in the Division of Student Affairs at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It opened in fall 2007 as a resource and support centre for students who live off campus. The overarching goal of the centre is to cultivate community among off-campus students…

Objective: Focus group (FG) interviews with students and adults were used to obtain a rich understanding of the "Cooking with Kids" classroom experience from the child and adult participant perspectives. Methods: FG topics included students' cooking experiences at school and home and perceptions of "Cooking with Kids". Verified transcripts of…

This article describes a novel implementation of a response to intervention (RTI) model at the elementary school level, with particular focus on the role of the school counselor. The RTI process was used with all K-2 students as a way of delivering research-based best practice to all students, and as a way of documenting the educational progress…

The authors discuss how participatory action research (PAR) informs the pedagogy and epistemology of the social justice education. PAR facilitates students' engagement in their social context and acquisition of knowledge to initiate personal and social transformation. The scope of research contains knowledge about social justice issues negatively…

This article examines the sustained impact of a workshop series held to support faculty engagement in program assessment in the College of Education at California State University, Long Beach. The four-part series, held monthly during spring 2008, was intended to enhance faculty understanding of their role in assessment of student learning at the…

The origins of institutional effectiveness are traced, its evolution within community colleges is described, the use of the term "institutional effectiveness" is analyzed, and a practical, operational definition of the term is presented. The author hopes that this definition and the discussion in this article prove useful to community college…

The purpose of this article is to identify key ways in which program review provides information and documentation demonstrating that a community college is effective. This is accomplished through both the program review process (the means by which reviews are conducted) and the product (program review reports and supporting evidence). The various…

The effectiveness of three types of in-service training designed to improve early intervention practitioners' abilities to use family-systems intervention practices was evaluated in the study of 473 participants. Participants attended either conference presentations or one of two types of workshops (half day/full day or multi-day), or received one…

The benefits of embedding the teaching of writing into the curriculum have been advocated by educators and researchers. However, there is currently little evidence of embedded writing instruction in the UK's higher education context. In this article, we present a case study in which we report the design, implementation and evaluation of an…

Over the past 70 years, all states in the United States began to publicly subsidize kindergarten using state revenue. The variation in adoption dates across states allows for a unique opportunity to measure the effectiveness of the largest early education program implemented in recent history. The significant, immediate increase in the…

This article describes and evaluates an interdisciplinary, experiential service-learning project that combined environmental studies and marketing courses at a liberal arts college over a 2-year period. The inherent tensions between these two disciplines regarding issues of environmental protection and conservation make this project's contribution…