This is the second of four monographs reporting the findings of Phase 2 of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Preprimary Project, which presents data on the physical characteristics of children's early childhood settings. Early childhood settings were documented in the following 15 countries: (1)…

The causes and symptoms of violence among children and adolescents can be complex and difficult to control. A strategy that was designed to help one youth center's staff, volunteers, and members recognize the signs and symptoms of verbal and physical violence is described here. The youth facility is located in a crime-ridden part of an urban…

With a growing number of families with both parents in the workforce, there is a continuing struggle to find child care for school-age children during the out-of-school hours: before and after school, summers, and holidays. This report provides an overview of the need for school-age care in Arizona and highlights the state's major program…

This manual presents information on designing and delivering a summer learning program whose goal is to provide an opportunity for students to experience academic success and positive self-esteem through reading fluency and comprehension. Sections of the manual address background and policies (on student and teacher selection, student promotion,…

The quantity and nature of parent-child verbal interactions, reading to and with children, and the availability and use of reading materials at home are factors that influence literacy development. Since many parents of first-grade children are not taking advantage of opportunities at home to engage their children in appropriate activities to…

Reports the development of a scale for evaluating family therapist skills. All items discriminated significantly between videotaped segments of effective and ineffective family therapist skills and between experienced and inexperienced family therapists. Interrater reliability and internal consistency of the categories were acceptable. The scale…

Describes a field test of Future School, an educational game which attempts to effect behavior change by first changing attitudes during a simulated experience. Discussion of simulations and games to achieve attitude change is included. (JJD)

In U.S. K-12 public education, incentive pay for educators remains firmly fixed as a high-interest policy topic and has recently become a popular reform initiative in many school systems. The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), created in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Education, is at the forefront of this policy movement and has provided hundreds of…

This practicum paper describes a fantasy play program designed for 3- and 4-year-old preschoolers with Barbie dolls that could be used as a tool in regularly scheduled center play activity. Because of strong biases held by teachers against commercial toys, children were not afforded the ability to experiment with these tools, or discover the role…

Capturing what has been learned over the past several years about the characteristics of effective Even Start Family Literacy programs, this book offers a guide for self-review by programs for the purpose of staff development and program improvement. The book also provides a focus for designing local program evaluations, serves as an outline of…

The report describes one segment of the Federal Language Testing Board's Unified Language Testing Plan (ULTP), the validation of the speaking proficiency test in Russian. The ULTP is a project to increase standardization of foreign language proficiency measurement and promote sharing of resources among testing programs in the federal government.…

This document provides information designed to help businesses increase their involvement in supporting children and families. The first of three chapters discusses the impact of social changes on the work force, and lists benefits that accrue to businesses and families when businesses institute policies that support employees' families. The…

This report describes the All Day Kindergarten (ADK) Program undertaken at 18 elementary schools in Columbus, Ohio, and presents an evaluation of the language development component of the program. ADK provides an extra half day of instruction, using a language-based curriculum to reinforce the skills, concepts, and educational experiences taught…

Drawing from the experiences of three California community colleges, Foothill College, De Anza College, and San Jose City College, this collection of materials provides guidelines and sample forms and instruments to help in the development of a system for evaluating community college administrators. Included in the collection are: (1) general…

This analysis of national leadership and service organizations (NL/SO's) lists and describes 26 NL/SO's that provide professional development, networking, and advancement opportunities for the nation's community colleges. Part 1 provides introductory comments on the external forces affecting community colleges, and the internal and external…