The US Agency for International Development (USAID) Education Policy, guides Agency-wide investments in education and is the primary source of direction for all education programming. The policy outlines key principles and priority areas that are critical to supporting countries on their journey to self-reliance. It applies to all USAID education…

Home visiting is one tool used to prevent child abuse and improve child well-being by providing education and services in families' homes through parent education and connection to community resources. This toolkit provides state policymakers and advocates with strategies for extending and expanding access to state- or federally-funded home…

This document is intended to serve as a practical guide for implementing a teacher-student data link (TSDL) that supports a range of uses at the local, regional, and state levels. The guide addresses the considerations for linking teacher and student data from multiple perspectives, including governance, policies, data components, business rules,…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is committed to bringing together museums and libraries across the country for conversations dedicated to developing a better understanding of the roles of libraries and museums as providers of public service to communities. The Future of Libraries and Museums in the 21st Century Planning…

Results-based management (RBM) is an approach to programme planning and management that integrates strategy, people, resources, processes and measurements to improve decision-making, transparency and accountability. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) began the adoption of a RBM model with its 2003-2006 Three-Year Plan. This led to a significantly…

Technology expenditures and usage in schools have risen by nearly 300 percent during the last three decades. Few principals claim to be technology experts, but most aspire to design a map that leads their schools to success with educational technology. The key to success on the journey is not to know everything, but to ask the right questions.…

Policy Implications Analysis (PIA) is a tool designed to maximize the likelihood that an evaluation report will have an impact on decision-making. PIA was designed to help people planning and conducting evaluations tailor their information so that it has optimal potential for being used and acted upon. This paper describes the development and…

This document contains revised policy and guidelines for the external evaluation of new graduate-level programs in the Oregon University System. Each institution in the Oregon University System that requests a new graduate-level or graduate degree program or a significant new option within an existing graduate program must complete an external…

The guide, based upon Vocational Education of Handicapped Students: A Guide for Policy Development by S. Davis and M. Ward, is intended to help local education agency (LEA) administrators and supervisors conduct evaluation and needs assessment of vocational education programs, policies, and procedures related to handicapped students. Each of eight…

To enable decision makers to become more aware of the levels of confidence that can be placed in the results of particular computerized decision models, methods for establishing confidence levels are discussed. The U.S. General Accounting Office has developed criteria and review procedures for evaluating computerized policy analysis models.…

A self study and evaluation guide for agencies serving blind and visually handicapped students presents standards for personnel administration and volunteer services. Standards in eight areas are listed for self evaluation: planning and organization, policy development for personnel administration, personnel policies, personnel policy…

This guide accompanies Join Together's recommendations for drug and alcohol abuse prevention for policymakers and communities. It presents strategic examples of how major institutions and residents in communities have paid attention to substance abuse and worked to overcome its effects. Part 1 contains the recommendations and key policies…

The educational administrator must often straddle the gap between empirically sound and politically expedient decisions, employing policy assessment as a hedge against adopting ill-conceived policies. The resource allocation model (RAM) attempts to remedy this dilemma by tying program evaluation and policy analysis into a single conceptual yet…

The governance options matrix is provided to offer a way for state and university policymakers to examine the functioning environments of specific university-owned public teaching hospitals. With it, they can consider the benefits and problems involved with different options for governance. The issues related to the environmental factors affecting…

This primer on youth development is intended to help communities rethink youth services in the context of the larger community. It offers guidance about the changes necessary to plan for and accept new ideas. The youth development approach advocated by the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) suggests that helping young people achieve their…