HEAT, an instructional program emphasizing a nontraditional hands-on approach to algebraic instruction for urban, predominantly African American middle schoolers, provides a space to explore teachers' beliefs about urban students' mathematical abilities and motivation and addresses how teacher perceptions can intersect with instruction, learning,…

Enacted in 1997, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) represented the largest expansion of U.S. public health care coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid 32 years earlier. Although the program has recently been reauthorized, there remains a considerable lack of thorough and well-designed evaluations of the program. In…

In 1965, appalled by the racial disparity with respect to access to higher education, the federal government implemented the Higher Education Act. After more than 40 years of programmatic intervention, gaps persist. As such, this study analyzes two of the three original HEA programs--Upward Bound and Talent Search--focusing on race/ethnicity and…

Discusses the experience of the 4-H program with the challenging Federally mandated evaluation. Explores how tensions around both design integrity and practicality were manifested and how this conflict affected a large scale evaluation. Also describes the design that 4-H employed to respond to the Congressional evaluation mandate. (Author/GC)

Discusses effects of federal educational funding on procedural changes, structural changes, personnel opportunities, and student access at local levels since 1965. Suggests that federal programs have had the most pervasive impact on minority group education and that impacts have been greater than the percentage of federal dollars allocated to…

Suggests that (1) the federal role in educational change is marginal and educational policies of the Reagan administration are ineffectual; and (2) while the rhetoric of Federal education policy might change, the policy itself is still governed by incrementalism and is unlikely to change in the near future. (Author/MJL)

To promote effective evaluation of the 4-H program, develops a matrix that identifies unintended and intended consequences of the program. After discussing objectives and activities of 4-H, concludes that the program has effectively incorporated good delivery modes and appropriate selection of materials to make an important contribution to…

Attributes the lack of success among youth employment/education programs over the past 50 years in part to inadequate evaluation of concept development, program implementation, and individual outcomes. Discusses objectives, implementation, and results of various private and government-supported youth employment and school to work plans. (JCD)

Uses previous implementation studies to investigate the process of local implementation of federal educational policy since 1965. Examines assumptions underlying federal educational policies; suggests different ways of thinking about the federal role in education; and maintains that effective implementation of federal educational programs requires…