A year-long collaborative action research project used networked technologies to connect researchers at a university-based online professional development program and a group of practitioner researchers based in a range of schools and educational agencies in several countries. They studied the process and effects of online professional development…

In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) to improve the school readiness of Washington State's children through three main strategies: (1) development of high-quality, community-wide early learning initiatives in two communities; (2) enhancement of statewide systems that support early…

This brief identifies the features of high-quality after-school settings that have emerged from the research and are reflected in program quality tools. It also examines key research linking program quality to positive developmental outcomes; it reviews current practice in program quality assessment; and it offers considerations for policymakers…

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is important to faculty because SET ratings help faculty improve performance and are often used as the basis for evaluations of teaching effectiveness in administrative decisions (e.g., tenure). Researchers have conducted over 2,000 studies on SET during the past 70 years. However, despite the explosive growth…

"Data collected from eligibility assessments need to be useful and connected across all areas of service delivery." The content and flow of information have enormous implications for practice. Professionals are challenged because they lack functional information needed to create useful goals and objectives, implement effective…

Traditionally, education in Scotland has been viewed as a national service that is locally administered. This research casts new light on that relationship between the Scottish Executive and local authorities by drawing on evidence from an evaluation of the implementation of the additional support staff element of the Teachers' Agreement which…

The fields of Computer Information Systems (CIS) and Information Technology (IT) are experiencing rapid change. In 2003, an analysis of IT degree programs and those of competing disciplines at 10 post-secondary institutions concluded that an information technology program is perceived differently from information systems and computer science. In…

Suggests that not only can scholastic achievement be boosted to a significant degree, but that it can be boosted by those students whom most educators believe have the least chance for school improvement, namely, EOP students. (Author/AM)

Significant findings are presented from a study conducted to ascertain what work tasks a university's Industrial Technology (IT) graduates were performing, their salaries, and their curriculum evaluations. More than half were involved in 20 people-oriented work tasks; respondents indicated that vital interpersonal skills should be emphasized in IT…

Based on the experiences of six organizations, this manual aims to help assistance groups who work to change the way schools actually treat children. Assistance group members can include principal or teacher advisors, curriculum consultants, group process facilitators, dissemination or staff development specialists, parent trainers or organizers,…

This paper raises three broad issues,each with sub-areas. First, what are the consequences of measuring and evaluating the parts of higher education that can be satisfactorily measured? What are the consequences for the parts of education that can not be measured, and for the total enterprise? Second, what kind of assessment systems will be best…

Sixty-six public libraries selected by random sample, substitutions and participation requests, tested Rutgers University 1970 Performance Measures Manual to gather information on the evaluation and improvement of public libraries. Selection was based on geographic location and budget categories. Following instructions for manual's use at…

This study was designed to: (1) design pupil growth measures for evaluating teacher and program effectiveness; (2) evaluate the effect of training site on preservice teachers' ability to bring about intended outcomes in pupil learning; and (3) determine the extent to which preservice teachers could bring about intended outcomes in pupil learning.…

In a study to investigate the effectiveness of manpower development programs in improving vocational adjustment of rural disadvantaged residents in western Tennessee, findings appeared to indicate that training made some improvement in the lives of the experimental group (residents who participated in manpower training programs) as compared to the…

The results of a study to determine whether health behavior contracting was effective in changing health styles among 190 college freshmen are reported. Methodology is described. (JL)