Over the past decade, the federal investment in higher education has grown, the public demand for a postsecondary degree has risen, and skepticism about the value and meaning of the degree has increased. This confluence has prompted a more intense federal interest in having clear and comparable information about colleges and universities available…

Charter schools are largely viewed as a major innovation in the public school landscape, as they receive more independence from state laws and regulations than do traditional public schools, and are therefore more able to experiment with alternative curricula, pedagogical methods, and different ways of hiring and training teachers. Unlike…

Inverness Research has served as the external evaluation group for the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession (CSTP) since its inception in 2003. As evaluators, Inverness conceptualizes projects as investments in improvement, and it examines the returns on those investments. The direct services of projects and their immediate outcomes…

This report presents the outcomes of the analysis of Grade Level of Achievement (GLA) data at the provincial level to inform the program planning and evaluation needs of Alberta Education as well as school and central office based administrators. GLA data reported to Alberta Education is a teacher's judgment of a student's academic progress. GLA…

Vocational-technical education (VTE) today encompasses a diverse array of programs to equip students with work and life skills. A widening skills gap in the nation's work force, coupled with the fact that only about 20% of the nation's current jobs require a four-year college degree, has made VTE more important than ever before. Research has…

In recent years, social programs for the poor have lost the support of the American public. This book describes some of the very best programs and documents their benefits, demonstrating that we can, in fact, make substantial progress in the fight against educational failure, family dissolution, violent crime, substance abuse, unemployment, and…

In view of the pending reauthorization of Head Start in 2003, this paper presents information on the effectiveness of Head Start, alternatives to Head Start, program funding, performance standards, and other issues germane to its reauthorization. Topics considered in the question-and-answer format of the report are: (1) Head Start benefits for…

This guidebook is designed to provide teachers, schools, parents, and other community leaders with the needed ideas, strategies, and resources to combine service learning and character education in meaningful educational activities for children and young people. The booklet contains seven short sections that provide an overview of character…

The Lifeskills Project in South Africa provides services to communities in lifeskills facilitation training. Empowerment and capacity building in course and workshop participants is an underlying theme, with emphasis on self-concept enhancement for community enhancement. Aims of the Lifeskills Project include: (1) training facilitators in…

A literature review of 132 studies of School-to-Work programs and consultations with the staff of the National School-to-Work Office, researchers, and practitioners in the field drew conclusions about the effectiveness of the School-to-Work initiative. Some of the study's conclusions were the following: (1) School-to-Work students maintain good…