The $17.2 million Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) demonstration grant program funded by the Ford Foundation which ran from 1994 to 2001 represents the largest philanthropic project specifically aimed at rural community colleges in United States history. While a good deal of literature has been published about this initiative, much was…

Interested in bringing the benefits of the arts as integral to quality education for all children, in 2004 the Ford Foundation launched the National Arts Education Initiative, a seven-year demonstration in nine communities across the United States. Building from arts education programs that serve "pockets" of children, Ford investments…

In this article, the authors describe a case in which school district officials used state regulations for new teacher mentoring programs as justification to cut funding and incrementally dismantle a model program. (Contains 1 table.)

The methodology and design of the process evaluation system of the Pawtucket Heart Health Program (an 11-year project for changing/documenting change in cardiovascular disease risk status of a northeastern city's residents) are described. Examples of the system's use are provided. The maintenance of such a system without substantial evaluation…

A video mock-up is a "design story", described by Patrick Parrish in a recent "TechTrends" article as "imagining the journey of a learner's experience in engaging with a finished design". A design story allows designers to show their design vision to others and to observe features and benefits of the program as a learner would experience it. The…

This article describes the design and formative evaluation of a Web-based tool that supports curriculum developers in constructing competence maps. Competence maps describe final attainment levels of educational programs in terms of--interrelated--competencies. Key requirements for the competence-mapping tool were validity and practicality.…

Classroom research and formative evaluation, the most efficient methods of assessing and planning teaching improvements, form the link to quality student learning. An assessment program at Alverno College (Wisconsin) and an instructional improvement program at Miami-Dade Community College (Florida) demonstrate the importance of bringing assessment…

The interim report outlines the second year objectives of a proposed three-year K-12 exemplary career education project for southeast Arkansas. A program description and evaluation of the project are provided by the evaluator. Grades K-7 focused upon knowledge about work were more significant than increases in self-awareness. Grades eight and nine…

Virtual schooling, or the practice of offering K-12 courses via distance technologies, has rapidly increased in popularity since its beginning in 1994. Although effective interaction with and support for students in these environments requires a unique set of skills and experiences, teacher education programs currently place very little emphasis…

This evaluation assesses Linking Up, a demonstration program investigating the process and consequences of mentoring. The program matched seventh- and eighth-graders with adult mentors in a small, rural junior-senior high school and an urban junior-senior high school. Student participants were selected to reflect the risk levels of each school's…

A proposed evaluation model for measuring the impact of demonstration projects in vocational education defines sets of criteria, standards, and documentation for both interim and final acceptable evidence of project impact. Interim acceptable evidence is that evidence of project success which should be expected during the demonstration grant…

The purpose of "Operation Challenge" developed at the Center of Excellence, North Florida Junior College, is identifying potential college students and motivating them to complete high school and enroll in post-secondary education. During its first year of operation several components were implemented: (1) the identification and…

This volume, second of two, presents results of the formative evaluation of 14 Head Start programs that received grants for the purpose of demonstrating a variety of approaches to improving transition between Head Start programs and elementary schools. The evaluation was designed to obtain data on project implementation, successes, and obstacles.…

An evaluation was conducted on seven career education projects in seven Minnesota school districts. Formative and summative evaluation methods were used to assess teachers' and directors' project implementation and the impact on students' (grades 1 to 9) cognitive achievement. Self evaluation forms were used to obtain information from and to…

This book has a threefold purpose. First, it provides a problem-solving framework for comprehensively analyzing and attacking current weaknesses in both pre- and in-service teacher education. Next, it explains how this approach can be applied by providing concrete examples of procedures and products appropriate to each of three problem-solving…