Objectives: Drug education is delivered by a broad spectrum of multi-disciplinary practitioners within the fields of health promotion, drug prevention and treatment, social care, and community and youth work. However, drug education is often misunderstood or conflated with drug information and/or drug prevention. This ambiguity of understanding is…

Teacher empowerment is a central issue in relation to the efforts to improve the quality of education. However, teacher empowerment will remain an abstract idea if its implementation is not supported by an appropriate strategy. The demands for a quality education will be unreciprocated if teachers do not have the opportunity to empower themselves.…

According to national statistics, there is a growing need for qualified educators in early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). Almost all of the nation's school districts are reporting shortages in special education teachers (Boe & Cook, 2006; McLeskey & Billingsley, 2008). A project funded by the United States…

Recognizing the importance of immigrants to Greater Boston and the value of English classes and other supports to building an inclusive and welcoming community, the Boston Foundation and the Latino Legacy Fund commissioned a study that explores the "return on investment" (ROI) for teaching English to adults who are speakers of other…

This report summarizes the first year of the prekindergarten partnership between AISD, United Way for Greater Austin, and participating child development centers that served 417 students. Classrooms and students displayed high quality of instruction and academic performance, and teacher professional development opportunities are summarized.

International development organizations increasingly use "participatory development" approaches to improve the effectiveness of their programs. Participatory frameworks are commonly limited in scope and funder-driven; these top-down approaches to participation have proven to be both ineffective, and at times, contradictory in their…

The Year 2 Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG) implementation study focuses on the second year of supports and outcomes for teachers, classroom quality, and supports for families. Overall, compared to its first year of implementation, the PEG programs in Year 2 (which was the 2016-17 school year) appear to have made progress towards delivering the key…

This is the fifth and final report of a longitudinal study examining the use of a comprehensive system of prevention and early intervention services in Palm Beach County, and how its use relates to the outcomes of children and families living in four targeted geographic areas (TGAs) with high rates of poverty, teen pregnancy, crime, and child…

This digest identifies current programmatic efforts to inform and support parents and briefly reviews research on the effectiveness of parent education and support programs. The discussion of approaches to parent support focuses on parent education programs, the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments (Public Law 99-457), Head Start, state…

This book seeks to stimulate inquiry into the area of implementation in three social policy areas: education programs; community-oriented programs; and transfer-payment*programs. It is intended for government groups and social science researchers, including analysts, who carry out programs, researchers who are engaged in social policy studies, and…

This guide was developed as a tool for group leaders to help people in their organizations participate in local discussions about literacy quality and evaluation in Ontario, Canada, as part of the Literacy Quality Standards and Evaluation Project. The guide is organized in seven sections that cover the following topics: definition of literacy;…

This report reviews the structure of the guidance field and provides a sector-by-sector analysis of current quality assurance arrangements in the United Kingdom. Part 1 presents an outline of the guidance sector, including some key concepts, structures, and roles. It defines guidance and other terms; discusses the three main categories…

This document presents seven papers prepared by experts in the field of adult education on the issues related to developing and implementing quality indicators from the perspective of their program areas or organizational affiliations. "Indicators of Program Quality for Adult Basic Education" (Mary Williams) addresses the appropriateness of…

During a typical week, as many as 14 million children and youth across the United States lack adult supervision during non-school hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the lack of structured and supervised afterschool programs in American communities contributes to a higher incidence of drug and alcohol use and delinquent…

This compendium contains evaluation briefs on 49 youth programs that were assessed by the American Youth Policy Forum. The programs were selected because they demonstrate that careful application of the following principles can lead to powerful results for youth: adult support, structure, and expectations; creative forms of learning; combination…