Asserts that program evaluation can identify weaknesses in a community college's curriculum and ways to overcome these weaknesses. Discusses reasons for program evaluation, state-level evaluation efforts in Florida, and two examples of campus program evaluation plans. Offers a curriculum planning model for the 1980's. (AYC)

Dual credit, the approach by which students receive both high school and college credit for the same course, has received enormous attention in recent years. The original intent of dual credit was to provide more challenging curricula to academically prepared high school students. Over the past three decades, the target recipients of the program…

This report provides an overview and description of social and emotional learning (SEL) and service-learning (S-L) as tools to improve the lives and academic performance of students. It describes how the two practices are interrelated, and cites research evidence that supports the expanded use of both practices in the classroom. Also provided are…

The Ensuring Student Success Through Collaboration Network, administered by the Council of Chief State School Officers, is comprised of teams of state and local leaders from Arkansas, California, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington and works to connect education improvement efforts with other human service reforms, economic…

One of the programs funded by the Education Improvement Act in South Carolina was the child development program for 4-year-olds with readiness deficiencies placing them at risk for early school failure. This report presents the findings of three studies focusing on the characteristics of the child development programs and students, the academic…

This report states that 21 South Carolina school districts are currently implementing "character education" through the Federal Partnerships in Character Education Grant and that in this, the second year of the grant, 17 district applications were selected to receive subgrant awards from the 21 that applied in December 1997. The report…

Development of the senior center concept in Tennessee is described, with the goal of a multiple network of centers for statewide delivery of services. Includes training older adults as program leaders, preparing a senior resources directory, activities of many community organizations, and program funding arrangements. (MF)

Provides an overview of the 2+2 Tech Prep movement, including a summary of the U.S. Labor Department publication "What Work Requires of School," and Michigan's Tech Prep efforts. Describes a technical foundation or bridging program designed for individuals who desire an associate degree in a practical field but were inadequately prepared…

Describes Pennsylvania's comprehensive child day care and early childhood development training system, focusing on the Early Childhood Education Linkage System (ECELS) and its immunization initiative. The initiative was established to improve the overall immunization status of all children in child day care in the state. (MDM)

Discusses the evolution of state-level assessment activities of college graduates' skills/outcomes to provide a context for a proposed national system and examines extent and types of testing in six states. Addresses the purposes of postsecondary assessment and draws conclusions as to institutional support needed to sustain a collaborative system.…

Describes recent state initiatives to improve child care for Mississippi children. Efforts include development of a child care director's credential, on-site training through staff at mobile training vans, initiatives to heighten consumer awareness and help parents make informed choices, voter education projects, and free yearly conferences for…

Since the announcement in 1999 of a plan to tie teachers' salary increases to student achievement by Denver Public Schools, there has been a flood of nationwide policy activity around teacher compensation. This paper examines pay plans in Denver, Toledo, Minneapolis, and New York City, offering a snapshot of the changing landscape of teacher…

The purpose of the AISI (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) Handbook for Cycle 3, 2006-2009 is to provide school authorities with the provincial and local requirements and processes for planning, funding, implementing, managing, evaluating, reporting and sharing school improvement projects. The handbook provides a framework for the…

The decline in Federal funding for state-provided social services during the 1980s triggered a transformation in the states' roles in family policymaking. This booklet documents four state initiatives designed to bring about systems change: (1) Healthy Start (California); (2) the Governor's Families and Children Initiative (Colorado); (3) the…

This publication offers a state-by-state summary of the school-to-work and/or school-to-careers activities funded by the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico as of the summer 1997. Arranged alphabetically by state name, the profiles provide some or all of this information, as appropriate,…