California's new Statewide System of Support is grounded in the fundamental principles of the Local Control Funding Formula, especially its emphasis on the central role of local educators in determining the best approaches to improvement. This report examines the early implementation of the System of Support, with a focus on the work of the county…

Nearly all private, government and non-governmental organizations that receive government funding to run social or health promotion programs in the United States are required to conduct program evaluations and to report findings to the funding agency. Reports are usually due at the end of a funding cycle and they may or may not have an influence…

The School of Planning Policy and Development at the University of Southern California brought together representatives of neighborhood councils and city agencies of the city of Los Angeles together in an action research program. This action research program called the Collaborative Learning Project developed a collaboration process called the…

From 2004-2008, capacity to conduct program evaluation was built among the "Network for a Healthy California's" 48 largest local partners. Capacity building was done within a framework of Empowerment Evaluation and Utility-Focused evaluation. Tools included: a Scope of Work template, a handbook, a compendium of surveys, an evaluation…

Objective: To evaluate recall and usage of the Food Stamp Office Resource Kit (FSORK), a set of nutrition education materials designed for use in food stamp offices. Design: Client intercept exit surveys, an environmental scan, and individual observations of clients in the food stamp office. Setting: Four food stamp offices in California.…

The challenge of producing the systemic changes that are needed to boost educational attainment and economic competitiveness across the country falls heavily on entities that coordinate public postsecondary institutions. Coordination of postsecondary education, whether of a single system of institutions or across an entire state, requires…

A community school is a place and a set of partnerships connecting a school, the families of students, and the surrounding community. A community school is distinguished by an integrated focus on academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, and community development. The community school strategy is central to efforts…

For decades sociologists, criminologists, political scientists and socio-legal scholars alike have focused on the symbolic and instrumental dimensions of law in examinations of the effects of social reform and policy implementation. Following in this tradition, we focus on the relationship between hate crime policy and hate crime reporting to…

This report seeks to raise awareness of the critical importance of chronic early absence, synthesize available data on the scope of the challenge, and share emerging insights about how schools and communities can use chronic early absence to identify and address challenges affecting the social, educational and physical well-being of children and…

Following a case study of father-daughter incest, the author comments on the prevalence of incest and describes Santa Clara County's Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program (CSATP). The founding of CSATP, its treatment model for incestuous families, and its preliminary results are covered. (SJL)

The second part of the California State Department of Education annual report on publicly subsidized child care services, this document describes services provided by California's preschool programs during the fiscal year of 1979-80. Included are brief statistical descriptions of the children and families served, the providers of state preschool…

The 1990's have seen a nationwide development of initiatives designed to provide school-linked comprehensive services to children and families. The level of collaboration among schools and community-based agencies required by such initiatives is unprecedented and offers an opportunity for systemic changes in the way professionals, families, and…

This study examined the role of subcontractors and consultants in California's Employment Training Panel (ETP) program. Methods included interviews, focus groups, a phone survey, and a survey of projects without subcontractors. Results indicated that the market in which administrative and training consultants sell their services to employers is…

A study evaluated the impact of the reorganization of the academic Sepulveda (California) Veterans' Administration medical center toward primary and ambulatory care. Surveys of several thousand patients were linked to computerized utilization and mortality data and related to the center's strategic plan and goals. Substantial improvement in…

The process of change at the academic Sepulveda (California) Veterans' Administration hospital during implementation of a new ambulatory primary care program was examined through individual or focus group interviews with 63 managers, house officers, and patients. Major problems included administrative integration of in- and outpatient services;…