In 2003 the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future convened a design team to launch the Teachers Learning in Networked Communities (TLINC) project. The initial one-year phase, funded by AT&T, involved a TLINC design team partnered with four communities, Pueblo, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Maine; and Socorro, Texas. The…

This report presents findings from a recent evaluation of 51 school health education programs nationwide. All programs were currently functioning and ongoing, had been evaluated, and provided some evidence of effectiveness. Each program was designed to improve the short- or long-term health status of children and youth in a school-based or…

Evaluation studies of the Child Development Project revealed unexpected findings concerning students' sense of classroom community. Teachers should systematically build relationships with students, involve them in planning and problem solving, help them learn classmates' strengths and interests, downplay competition, and involve all children in…

Alternative programs in special education are often developed in response to chronic personnel shortages. At issue, however, is the quality of alternative programs and their graduates. This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a large special education alternative certification program that adheres to both professional…

The American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Plus 50 Initiative is a three-year initiative launched in June 2008 and funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies. It was created to support a pilot group of two-year institutions to develop or expand campus programs that engage plus 50 learners. The initiative focuses on three types of…

This document presents a seven-step process to be used in developing a standards-based Individualized Education Program (IEP). Each step is followed by guiding questions for the IEP team to consider in making data-based decisions. Two student examples are provided to illustrate application of the components of a standards-based IEP. The student…

Scholastic's "System 44" is a foundational reading program intended for older struggling readers who have not mastered basic phonics and decoding skills. Combining researched-based phonics instruction with adaptive technology, "System 44" is designed to improve students' word reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. The…

In the United States, there is an alarming trend toward obesity and inactivity among children. Minorities and economically disadvantaged children are at an even higher risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention one in two Latino children will become diabetic. As a result, there is a dire need for tailored intervention…

State education departments, in discussions with Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast, identified low reading achievement as a critical issue for their students and expressed an interest in identifying effective strategies to promote the foundational skills in young students that might improve reading achievement. The Mississippi…

The aim of the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) evaluation was to examine the effectiveness and impact of the work of the National Remodelling Team (NRT) in completing the third phase of the remodeling program and its effectiveness in applying its model, tools and techniques to the extended schools program. This evaluation has…

This brief and accompanying Funder's Sustainability Assessment Tool is intended to help foundation leaders address the challenges of sustainability. The brief begins with a framework for thinking about sustainability, introduces an assessment tool funders can use in a variety of ways to support sustainability in their grantmaking, and concludes…

The primary objective of Project About Face, a program of Youth Services, Inc., is to reduce the rate of recidivism among juvenile offenders assigned to the program by the Juvenile Court of Memphis/Shelby County, Tennessee. Another purpose is to establish a profile of the type of offender who would be most likely to benefit from the academic,…

Staff of a rape crisis agency recognized the need for counseling services for survivors of sexual assault, but were unable to provide on-going counseling on a regular basis due to a staffing shortage. A support group for adult female rape victims was formed to reduce individual therapists' caseloads, to provide counseling services to a greater…

Three checklists to evaluate the effectiveness of advisory committees are provided. Checklist 1 monitors details of organizational structure and procedures, the second reviews interpersonal relations techniques, and the third rates the content of a management plan. (SK)

Surveyed for their perceptions, students attending four Alabama block-scheduled high schools identified block scheduling as more effective than traditional scheduling. Perceptions are unrelated to years of student experience. Teachers use more diverse strategies; students earn more graduation credits; instructional climate is improved; and making…