In December 2000, the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) began working with low-performing districts and schools as part of a 5-year research and development effort to create and refine a systemic model for improving student achievement in reading or mathematics. SEDL hypothesized that as districts and schools increase their…

Because schools must operate in a changing environment, educators must manage change whether they wish to or not. Administrators must plan accordingly, and the best plans arise from a solid theoretical base. This book provides that base, by drawing on systems theory to develop effective approaches to strategic and operational planning in…

This is one of a series of reports based on an ongoing reality test of systemic evaluation for instructional decision making. This feasibility study is being carried out by the Center for the Study of Evaluation with the Laboratory in School and Community Relations at a suburban Los Angeles high school (called Site A). Viewing a school as a…

Discussion of personalized instruction focuses on reading education and presents a systems model for teachers called a Teacher System for Personalized Instruction (TSPI). Topics discussed include diagnosing the needs of the learner; self-paced learning; motivation; achievement; mastery learning; evaluation plan; and cognitive, affective,…

This packet contains handouts for training school and community personnel to implement Project STEPS (Sequenced Transition to Education in the Public Schools), an interagency program to facilitate transition of young children with disabilities. A sample agenda for a 3-day training session is provided. Handouts are organized into the eight modules…

This module is part of a training program for foster parents and foster care workers offered at Colorado State University. The module's learning objectives address: (1) the organization of a social services foster care system; (2) the functioning of human systems and the rules governing their operation; and (3) the difficulties complex systems…

This is one of a series of reports based on an ongoing reality test of systemic evaluation for instructional decision making. This feasibility study is being carried out by the Center for the Study of Evaluation with the Laboratory in School and Community Relations at a suburban Los Angeles high school (called Site A). Viewing a school as a…

The research project described in this paper was conducted for three purposes: (1) to identify the program evaluation needs of secondary vocational educators in Wisconsin; (2) to identify those components of the state's previous evaluation system that educators wanted to keep; and (3) to develop a conceptual framework for revising Wisconsin's…

Connecticut's Adult Performance Program (CAPP), which was initiated in 1986, is a mix of policies, training, and technical assistance activities based on the following elements: specification of expected competency-based program outcomes; development of an assessment and instructional model to facilitate achievement of the program outcomes;…

The SPAN Project was developed as an exemplary career education project to serve grades K through 12. The program consisted of three components: one at the elementary grades, one for middle or junior high grades, and a component to service the senior high school students. The original title, "An Accelerated Project for a Systems Program…

This assessment of the developmental education program at the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) was conducted by the CCC's Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning (CITL). Part 1 describes the evolution of developmental programs in the CCC, focusing on the success of Loop College's Individual Needs Program in the 1970s, the decision to…

Through support from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, a model for providing graduate programs to full-time employed adults residing in remote locations of southern West Virginia was designed by the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies, a college that does not have a campus. The essence of the delivery model was to…

This research report studied the relationship between families and day care centers as systems. Three levels of subjects were investigated: 23 day care centers in Lansing, Michigan, day care staffs and families of children enrolled. Three questionnaires were developed to obtain data on demographic and attitudinal variables. A director's…

Research was conducted to develop and gather evidence of validity for a normative process model to be used by community adult education councils in establishing priority among community-level needs. The study design was based on a five-stage problem solving, systems model involving exploration, model building, design and development, validation,…

A guide to the implementation of the Entry Level Skills Program (ELSP) and a conceptual framework for evaluation research is presented. Attention is directed to strategies for the attainment of goals and management of the ELSP project, which is a developmental program for freshmen students who have not acquired the full range or level of cognitive…