Many articles and reports have reviewed, researched, and commented on international assessments from the perspective of exploring what is relevant for the United States' education systems. Researchers make claims about whether the top-performing systems have transferable practices or policies that could be applied to the United States. However,…

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…

A literature review identified characteristics of transition programs that were described in 33 refereed journal articles between 1986-1999. Results confirm that students with more severe learning and behavioral difficulties receive inadequate transition services; programs emphasize employment competencies over living skills; and there are few…

Findings of a review of research pertaining to federally subsidized school nutrition programs are presented in this report. The review of research, the first phase of the National Evaluation of School Nutrition Programs, is intended to provide guidance for the design of subsequent evaluation (including student, parent, and food administrator…

The goal of the "Closing the Achievement Gap for 21st Century Learners in West Virginia (CAG)" report, 3rd edition, is to update West Virginia educators to the status and improvement of student achievement in West Virginia which may then be utilized as a basis for determining future educational decisions. In order to enhance the quality…

In this book, the Committee on the Use of Volunteers in Schools presents an overview of volunteer activity in U.S. public schools. After an introduction in the first chapter, the second chapter provides a brief history of the organized volunteer movement. A mainly statistical profile of the use of volunteers comprises the third chapter. The fourth…

To examine the diversity and productivity of the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program, three types of information were drawn from states' applications and end-of-year evaluation reports: state program descriptive data, student service data, and student impact data. The Migrant Student Record…

Reviewing five large-scale investigations of educational dissemination and change, this report synthesizes and consolidates their findings and implications around an issue of common interest to policymakers, program administrators, and researchers: what can be learned from these studies about processes and procedures that facilitate knowledge…

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct a meta analysis study with the goal of providing state and local education leaders with scientifically-based evidence regarding the effects of teacher professional development on improving student learning. The analysis focused on…

Reviews of evaluation reports on 12 adult basic education (ABE) and 5 basic living skills programs were used to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of those programs. Findings indicate that ABE programs show promise for decreasing recidivism. (JOW)

Recent literature on school counseling has focused on the need for new directions for school counseling and redefined roles for school counselors. However, since the 1984 supplement to the High School and Beyond (HS&B) survey, no national data have been collected to describe guidance counseling programs and activities. To help address this lack of…

The chronic scarcity of career jobs and increased demands for mental ability in the workplace have necessitated school-to-work (STW) transition programs that prepare noncollege-bound youths not only for their first full-time job but also for continued learning and career transitions throughout their working lives. Among the main ideas advanced for…

This book aims to provide practical information and insights to practitioners involved in collaborative international development programs. It draws on literature and the authors' many years of field experience to combine theory and practical tools as a guide to action in the field. The introduction defines concepts in rural development, outlines…

Explores problems in the design and evaluation of programs by which special libraries market their services, and identifies potentially useful approaches and quantifiable measures for market structure analysis, design decision-making, and marketing program evaluation. Eleven references and a list of nine use studies with survey instruments are…

The third of a five-volume series, this volume consists of two empirical studies of organization development (OD) in school systems. Part 1 reports on information gathered from over 300 OD consultants in the United States and Canada regarding job title, work base, sex, geographical region, type of training, and nature and extent of OD work in…