The FNS Research Corner provides a continuing series to summarize recently completed and current research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the area of child nutrition. Summaries of recently completed research projects, research conducted through grant activities, and in-progress research are…

Understanding the potential or need for ICT support in education within developing countries, requires an in-depth needs assessment to comprehend, elaborate and set the desired priorities of rural schools. A Needs Assessment was conducted as part of an on-going comprehensive evaluation process of an ICT for development project, the Siyakhula…

Describes Drug Information, Assessment and Decisions for Schools (DIADS), computer-based information and decisions support system for development of school drug abuse prevention programs. Explains how DIADS provides access to cost-effective planning resource, helps schools assess program effectiveness, and guides selection of future activities.…

The project was designed to investigate sources of available data on the incidence, prevalence, diagnostic conditions, functional limitations, and activity restrictions of the disabled population in the United States, and to design a comprehensive data system. Difficulties, both conceptual and practical in estimating incidence and prevalence are…

A task force sought to determine the information needs of the Tulsa Public Schools (Oklahoma) by studying goals of the school district, identifying all processes necessary for operation of the school system, and conducting interviews with 48 key members. A detailed information systems matrix was constructed to show the interrelationships between…

The author describes her experiences as linking agent in aiding four local Massachusetts schools to examine, choose, and implement innovative reading programs. A process rather than content expert, her task was to organize existing, widespread support for change within the schools and to work with both the principals and a multiconstituent…

This module of a competency-based staff development training package is concerned with computer assisted reporting in a guidance, counseling, and placement program. The first goal of this module is to provide the participant with general knowledge of the process necessary to develop an effective computer information system. The second goal is to…

Reports findings from recent studies conducted on effectiveness of school information systems (SIS) and recommends strategies for well-structured evaluations that attend to key factors (relative to system implementation and use) that affect all schools-regardless of their size and organization. (Author/AEF)

The first of four major sections in this report presents an overview of the background and evolution of computer applications to learning and teaching. It begins with the early attempts toward "automated teaching" of the 1920s, and the "teaching machines" of B. F. Skinner of the 1940s through the 1960s. It then traces the…

The Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) Program (a performance-based assessment program) was developed to enable the Connecticut State Department of Education to implement legislation requiring beginning teachers to achieve a satisfactory evaluation on a professional knowledge clinical assessment during their initial year of teaching.…

Identifies the following nuts-and-bolts issues that must be addressed when establishing school-linked service programs: (1) planning; (2) targeting; (3) governance; (4) information systems; and (5) staffing. Political and policy issues are extremely important in seeking partnerships among independent agencies in an intergovernmental setting. (SLD)

This document reports on a 5-year project developed by the Department of Education of the U.S. Virgin Islands to create a useful information and technical assistance system for professional personnel to bring about educational change and growth. The project was based on the original Interstate Project in Dissemination model (with the exception…

This report presents nine steps, followed by work plans, for administrators when implementing a dropout prevention initiative. These nine steps are: (1) conduct a needs assessment to establish a database that identifies students who leave school early; (2) draft descriptors that identify elementary students who are at risk of dropping out later;…

This report discusses a project to develop, test, and disseminate the SNAP (Smart Needs Assessment Program) system for needs assessment and inservice training of regular educators to work with students with disabilities. The SNAP system is an expert system that defines the training needs of individual teachers and links these needs with training…

Activities of the Project DISCOVER team during the ten-month period from September 1, 1975 through June 30, 1976 are summarized in this report. (DISCOVER is a computer-based career guidance system under development since September 1972.) The major section reviews progress in meeting each of the following four objectives during the funding period,…