Six papers discuss the Louisiana School Effectiveness and Assistance Pilot (SEAP) program, an ongoing 3-year research project associated with a legislatively mandated school and district accountability program. In three phases, the project joins school indicators, school effectiveness, and school improvement initiatives. The following papers are…

This evaluative research report on the nature and extent of efforts to adopt and continue family day care support services in New York State is addressed to persons interested in developing an educational and support program for family day care and to policy makers. Findings are reported in 2 parts. Part I is a discussion of variables that tend to…

The authors discuss the information needs of developers in the early prototype phase, where the developer requires input that provides guidelines for the tryout revision cycle that cannot be satisfied by pre- and post-test data. When a develop-user relationship conducive to open communication allowed users to convey their perceptions and problems…

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) carried out an evaluation of a pilot/programme that was introduced in 2004 to help raise the achievement of bilingual learners in primary schools. Within participating authorities, pilot consultants were appointed and were managed by the Primary National Strategy managers and the Ethnic…

In order to establish a distant education system, it is first required to create a virtual learning system environment. A detailed literature search has revealed the existence of some "Open-Source" systems such as "Claroline, Moodle etc." Each system has been investigated in detail and it was found that "Moodle" is…

There appears to be a paucity of research on mentoring senior leaders (Hobson & Sharp, 2005) and yet a growing interest in the development of leadership through experience (Abra "et al.," 2003; McCauley "et al.," 1998). This paper therefore presents and evaluates a case study of a pilot mentoring scheme and programme for…

A pilot study (first phase of a 2-year study) was conducted to identify individual teachers who had begun integrating academic and vocational education before the development of state or national integration initiatives such as tech prep. The teachers were identified through a procedure involving nominations of exemplary vocational education…

The 1978 evaluation of the Early Childhood Services program found that the coordination of services needed to be strengthened at all levels but particularly at the regional level. Alberta Education launched a pilot study in 1980 into the means of increasing coordination of services for young children and families in the province, by granting…

Research identifying strategies and factors that facilitate or inhibit interagency collaboration helped the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and Research for Better Schools (RBS) discover whether they could work together. In a one-year experimental project, MSDE and RBS staff attempted three tasks: identification of common priorities,…

THIS PROJECT EXPLORED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT HIGH SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATIONS BASED ON THE EVALUATIVE CRITERIA OF THE NATIONAL STUDY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL EVALUATION PRODUCE CURRICULUM CHANGE AND HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES OF TEACHERS. THIS PROCESS OF SELF-EVALUATION WAS COMPLETED BY THE SCHOOL FACULTY, FOLLOWED BY A REVIEW OF A VISITING…

Uses a qualitative, feminist, case-study methodology to research the feminist leadership of three women secondary principals in New Zealand. Being student-focused was central to feminist educational leaders' practice within a neoliberal context demanding increased financial, accountability, and marketing responsibilities. They prevailed by working…

A project involving selection procedures for choosing full-text information retrieval software for government administration-oriented applications and users was undertaken by an Israeli government-owned computer company. A case study and comparison of six software systems were done and a list of 27 selection criteria compiled. (Author/EM)

User-centered design of catalog records requires the study of user behaviors and cognition related to interaction with the catalog. During 3 phases of a pilot study, 103 catalog users described 386 searches; searchers generally knew the title, publication date, page numbers, and/or the author. (Author/AEF)

The rate of adoption of mobile technologies in Africa's developing countries is amongst the highest in the world and by 2005 there may be almost 100 billion mobile users in Africa (Keegan, 2002; Brown, 2005). This is just one of the reasons why servicing distance students in this country through m-learning support tools should enjoy…

Current trends towards greater collaboration between schools to support training and staff development at a local level together with the linking of the needs of trainees, the wider workforce and experienced staff to this agenda has created a need for "neighbourhood" support. This support can be effectively developed by Training Schools,…