With many cities showing an interest in afterschool system building and research providing a growing body of useful information, this Wallace Perspective offers a digest of the latest thinking on how to build and sustain an afterschool system, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for this promising work. The report (a follow-up to a…

As additional states embark on the process of implementing four-year degrees at community colleges, they can learn from others' experience for help navigating the legislative, regulatory, and program approval processes. This brief uses examples from states currently offering bachelor's degrees at their community colleges to provide guidance for…

The Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) provides $75 million for the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI). This Initiative, originally launched and funded at the same amount in FY 2014, is overseen by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of…

Nearly every high-priority item in national, federal, state, and local discussions about education--and policy proposals across the political spectrum--requires high-quality longitudinal data to inform its design, implementation, and evaluation. This factsheet shares Data Quality Campaign's (DQC's) analysis of what "Data for Action 2011:…

To address key policy and programmatic questions and help improve student and system performance, states must work to link data across the early childhood, postsecondary and workforce (P-20/workforce) spectrum and share this information with appropriate stakeholders. This issue brief highlights current efforts in California, Florida, Indiana, and…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

The Association Supporting Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) is a group of people interested in small college computing issues. It is a blend of people from all over the country who use computers in their teaching, academic support, and administrative support functions. ASCUE has a strong tradition of bringing its members together to pool their…

This module provides a set of quantitative snapshots of the Community Science Workshops (CSWs) to complement the other reports that comprise the CSW Evaluation Portfolio--the Description of CSWs, the Benefits to Youth, and the Evaluation Brief modules--and to build a solid representation of the scope and scale of the CSW's work and…

This paper examines (1) the problems of program design and implementation in relation to evaluation design, the confusion between research and evaluation design, and the overemphasis on quantitative data; (2) clarifies misconceptions about these problems and the evaluation process; and (3) suggests ways of avoiding these problems in the future.…

Divided into six chapters, this user's manual accompanies a battery of tests developed by the Educational Progress in Careers (EPIC) project which was organized to develop and validate a system for evaluating career, economic, and community education projects in Florida schools. Chapter 1 presents an action checklist of steps to be followed by…

Includes "Community Education (CE) Development in the States" (Clark, Zemlo); "State of the States" (Clark, Zemlo); "In Support of State-Level CE Development" (Decker, Romney); "CE in Florida" (Hanley, Robinson); ""CE in Kentucky" (Christenson, Whitus); "CE in Minnesota" (Kerns,…

Reports, summaries, and recommendations are presented on the following research studies: (1) Beginning Teacher Studies; (2) Instructional Skills for Teaching Higher Order Thinking; (3) Development of the Conferential Observation Instrument; (4) Predictive Validity Studies Conducted to Test the Relationship Between Teacher Performance as Measured…

The extent to which state agencies are implementing information systems and analytical methods for budget review are examined. Focus is on 17 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Trends in budget…

This vocational program guide is intended to assist in the organization, operation, and evaluation of a program in data entry operations in school districts, area vocational centers, and community colleges. The following topics are covered: program content (job title and description and curriculum framework and student performance standards);…

A comprehensive program for meeting outdoor recreational needs in Florida is described in this planning and reference document in terms of objectives for the program through the year 1975 (with projections to the year 2000). The scope and nature of outdoor recreation are defined, and a justification for an outdoor recreation program is presented.…