Increasingly, early education, regardless of setting type, is considered to be an educational intervention that sets the stage for children's long-term school success. Accordingly, policymakers are focused on how to develop and support educators who have the skills and capacity to deliver high-quality programming to children. A pressing question…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

This performance report, presented in chart form, outlines progress on five goals of the Massachusetts Workplace Literacy Consortium. Under each goal are a number of objectives, and for each objective the chart describes activities, accomplishments, responsible party, and time frame. Goals are as follows: (1) "Enhance the Productivity and…

The proposal for the sixth year of the Massachusetts Right to Read effort deals primarily with ten objectives derived from the national commitment to full literacy. (1) "Focus on Excellence," a booklet outlining 5 major goals and 26 conditions for an exemplary reading program, is used for the criteria of excellence. (2) The Right to Read…

Committees composed of representatives from major guidance organizations in Massachusetts developed guidelines for counselors to use in assisting teachers, students, administrators, and local citizens in implementing career education in the schools. The guidelines first present the rationale for career education, (defining it and distinguishing it…

A total educational information system for evaluation of vocational education in Massachusetts is described. Specifically, the evaluation guide describes the evaluation plan, reveals the philosophy of evaluation upon which the design was built, outlines the processes of evaluation called for in the design, introduces the forms for data collection…

The first six of the eight brief papers presented in this document, all produced in 1990 and all discussing critical issues in Massachusetts public education and describing "visions" for addressing these issues, were published in a slightly different format from the last two papers. For each of the issues presented, a…

"The Achiever" is a monthly publication for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) "No Child Left Behind": Key Focus in State of the Union; (2) A Shining Example: Using Mix of Strategies, Stanton Elementary…

The publication describes the process by which a portion of the Management Information System for Occupational Education (MISOE) Census Data System (CDS) was field-tested in a sample of six Massachusetts schools. It is intended to provide guidelines for those who will be responsible for the planning of statewide implementation of the fully…

The document describes the process and presents the results of a field test of the Management Information System for Occupational Education (MISOE) Census Data System (CDS) Fall Reports. The data system was designed to collect and store basic census data (mandated State and Federal) for all occupational programs in Massachusetts and to meet all of…

The Massachusetts Education Reform Act was passed in June 1993. In fall 1993, the Massachusetts Board of Education approved the Department of Education's Implementation Plan for Education Reform and appointed a board task force to oversee the implementation process. This document presents the state's first annual implementation report card for…

This report presents the results of an assessment of social studies in the state of Massachusetts. From 240 to 390 test items were administered to all students in grades 4, 8, and 12. The test covered history, government/citizenship, geography, sociocultural environment, economics, multicultural environment, social studies process skills, and…

This resource guide is divided into three sections. The status of the competency movement is described in section I, both on the national level and for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Descriptions of locally developed competency programs in Massachusetts are given in section II and contain information on the area's demography,…

As part of a series of annual evaluations of the knowledge, understanding, skills, and attitudes of Massachusetts public-school students, this report represents the assessment of basic skills attainment of grade 12 students. The first three chapters contain a summary of the design and methodology of the testing program. The remaining five chapters…

A study examined the effectiveness of Massachusetts' Summer Youth Employment and Training Programs (SYETP) funded under Title IIB of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). The study methodology included the following: a review of federal JTPA legislation and pertinent state policy directives; site visits to a random sampling of 15 summer…