This 20-year follow-up study examined elementary special educators' use of curriculum-based measurement. Elementary special educators (N = 1,077) in four Midwest states participated in the survey. Results indicated that the overall use of CBM was much higher than 20 years ago with reading CBM as the most prevalent area of monitoring with data used…

In this article, the authors report on the results of a three-year study they conducted on assessment practices in general education courses at Duke University as part of a three-institution (Duke, the University of Kansas, and the University of Nebraska) research project funded by the Spencer Foundation. At all three institutions, researchers…

We investigated Early Head Start home visitors' use of evidence-based practices and the efficacy of a web-based system to support these practices. Home visitors learned to use 3 evidence-based practices: (a) frequent assessment of children's early communication for screening and progress monitoring, (b) 2 home-based language-promoting…

In state needs assessment meetings held in late June 2008, the leadership of two Central Region state departments of education, South Dakota and Missouri, asked Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central to determine how the states in the region evaluate their supplemental educational service (SES) providers. Specifically, these SEA staff…

Twenty-one elementary schools of "open space" design were studied to learn how teachers were adapting to this new kind of school environment. A method of quantifying a building's extent of physical openness was developed. Comparison of the original design of the buildings with their current floorplan indicated that in all but four of the…

Policy decision makers, early educators, and early interventionists face numerous challenges as they develop and implement statewide accountability systems to evaluate and improve children's early intervention and early childhood special education outcomes. Kansas was an early adopter of the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF) developed by the…

A Kansas school district administrative evaluation plan is outlined emphasizing continuity and compatibility of administrative positions. The plan has improved administrative intraschool relationships. (MD)

As Kansas schools have begun to work through the Quality Performance Accreditation (QPA) process, educators have asked for guidance and the establishment of some uniform parameters. This publication is one of the guides designed to lead schools through the school improvement process called for in the QPA. Creating a school profile is a way of…

The 1992-93 analysis of the Kansas Chapter 1 evaluation results is described. In the 1992-93 school year, 100 percent (304) of Kansas districts participated in the Chapter 1 program. Approximately 7 percent of the student population participated in Chapter 1 programs, and 82 percent were in grades 1 through 6. A majority of these students were…

Cell phones afford a set of distinctive advantages for gathering information on daily patterns of behavior, establishing relationships, maintaining contact, and providing professional expertise to participants in a wide array of programs, including intervention, treatment, and service. This paper presents new findings about innovative applications…