This document, which was developed after an extensive literature review and study of the United Kingdom's labor market and job search methods, is intended to be a tool for Employment Service personnel assisting unemployed job seekers. First, the following aspects of the job search environment are considered: occupational labor markets and…

A project provided more than 800 adult educators in Pennsylvania with a wide range of staff development activities and instructional strategies for teaching students with learning differences and multilevel abilities in the same classroom. It established a model for staff development that built upon previous projects and used a variety of delivery…

Focusing on efforts at community colleges to demonstrate institutional effectiveness, this monograph presents findings from a survey of 147 colleges regarding accountability practices and showcases seven colleges with effective accountability programs. The first chapter, "Focusing on the Problem: Accountability and Effectiveness in the Community…

This paper presents a collaborative employment placement and training structure which provides a flexible format for implementing various natural support models for the employment of individuals with severe disabilities. A team approach is used to develop and implement job assessment, training, and follow-up activities. Each team may be composed…

In a previous paper the authors presented a model of assessing portfolios, the Cognitive Model for Assessing Portfolios (CMAP), as a lens to view, think about, and make decisions about portfolio projects. Two projects in which the CMAP has been used are described. One is an authentic assessment project in mathematics and science by the Educational…

For a number of years it has been suggested that distance education is a natural extension of existing teaching methods that includes learners who are separated from the instructor by time or distance. This paper takes an alternative look at distance-education research and evaluation and proposes an evaluation model built on that view. That…

This book describes the steps and tools of Total Quality Management (TQM) and their use in the academic units of colleges and universities for Total Quality Improvement (TQI), illustrated by a case study from the School of Arts & Sciences at a state university. Section 1 explains how to: (1) identify problems contributing to non-value-added…

This study examined to what extent teachers who choose to take a course about cooperative learning implement the innovation and which factors account for variation in use of cooperative learning in their classrooms. Nine female elementary teachers were observed and interviewed. Teachers were categorized as effective users, competent users,…

This report was prepared to provide information on school evaluation practices to the education community and the general public. It is intended to assist individuals in selecting school evaluation models that assess the dimensions and components of a school that are considered most relevant and most related to school improvement. Work on the…

The Personnel Preparation Curriculum is a collaborative consultative model for training professionals, including Head Start teachers, parents, and paraprofessionals, to work with families to address the educational needs of children. The activity-based model views families as being in charge, and professionals as partners with parents. Six…

The primary job of parents is to ensure safe passage for their children from infancy through adolescence to adulthood. Research has indicated many things schools can do to turn the privilege of safe passage into a right. Three research-based programs that work to achieve safe passage are described. The first is Caring Connection, a "one-stop-shop"…

The formative evaluation of the Self-Directed Literacy Distance Learning for Developmental Disabilities Workers project is intended to assess the effectiveness of the course materials, operations process, and implementation. Designed to provide 96 hours of workplace literacy training to 426 developmental disabilities workers in about 80…

Project WORKSMART was a Nashville, Tennessee-based workplace literacy project to provide an exemplary multidimensional workplace literacy program while simultaneously demonstrating products and practices that promote lifelong learning that can be customized and replicated in diverse work environments. The project was a partnership between…

Legislation has largely treated planning and evaluation in vocational education separately. There has been a history of increasing requirements in planning and evaluation and of diffusing responsibility. In addition, existing policy regarding vocational education's dominant mission shows a general lack of clarity. Such factors inhibit the linking…

A "grassroots" model for developing a parent-school partnership to help communities achieve the national Education 2000 goals is presented in this paper. The model is based on two assumptions about parenting: (1) parents are responsible for child-rearing; and (2) professionals are responsible for educating parents. Recommendations for a…