This report summarizes the results of the fourth full year of a projected longitudinal study of the Child Development Centers Program (CDC). CDC is operated by the Seattle, Washington public schools to provide social services primarily to students four to eight years old. This volume describes the population served, services provided, and student…

A project was developed to improve vocational administrators' program management skills through diffusion of the cost-effectiveness analysis system which was developed at Indiana University-Bloomington. Specific objectives were (1) to summarize the cost-effectiveness analysis system, (2) to develop a conceptual framework for the system's diffusion…

Assessed in this report is the Department of Labor's Summer Program for Economically Disadvantaged Youth. It is asserted that the future employability of many of the most needy youths was not improved because the Department's efforts to assure that State and local governments were operating quality programs were not successful at the sites visited…

This study first provides a review of literature relevant to curriculum autonomy and school-based curriculum development, with special emphasis on Australian secondary schools. The second part of the report analyzes Australian secondary school staff's perceptions of: 1) the meaning of curriculum autonomy, 2) the advantages and disadvantages of…

Title VI was designed to put an end to Federal support of discrimination and to assure blacks the right of access to Federally assisted programs. However, the Federal government has not established sufficiently rigorous compliance and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that its programs do not contribute to racial discrimination. In order to enforce…

This report consists of a survey and statistical analysis of Projects to Advance Creativity in Education (PACE) as viewed by the 920 project directors in this ESEA Title III program. Discussion centers about (1) characteristics of existing projects, (2) problems encountered, (3) views toward State, local, and Federal agencies, (4) criteria for…

The report reviews the effectiveness of management of the Federal contract compliance program in the nonconstruction industry. The following areas were evaluated: (1) Department of Labor guidance to and control over the 13 other Federal agencies assigned compliance review responsibility for nonconstruction contractors, (2) compliance agencies'…

The Productive Thinking Program (PTP), consisting of 16 programmed lessons designed to develop productive thinking skills, was used as the basis of a program conducted with 546 fifth graders in 21 classes in four upstate New York school districts. One hundred and twenty students from one of these districts were involved in a modified Solomon Four…

Described are the rationale, development and utility with mentally retarded children of the Peabody Mathematics Readiness Test (PMRT), an instrument designed to assess mathematical readiness of normal first graders and identify children who would experience difficulty with first grade mathematics. It is explained that the PMRT was intended to…

The experience of a research group in studying Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) programs provides the framework for a discussion of the methodological difficulties of conducting research on disadvantaged groups. However, the report does not deal with the programs and operations of NYC itself. Four problem areas are described: (1) criterion, program,…

In discussing ways in which schools can be more responsive to youth needs, the article outlines psychological principles used in successful vocational programs. The principles address student needs for meaningful learning materials, emotional involvement, novelty, and success. Factors of control along with freedom within structure are included in…

Introduces the other articles in this special issue. Restructuring the schools to some means changing the "mechanics" of schooling; to others it refers to changes in relations of authority. However, there is uncertainty whether any restructuring will take place because a restructuring program will be difficult to implement. (BJV)

This reaction paper stresses the importance of matching the qualitatively different types of educational decisions with appropriate types of tests. Reading instruction is used to illustrate that while standardized tests are helpful for student classification and program accountability, they are hazardous to instructional process decisions which…

This document is comprised of the single 2000 issue of a newsletter of the Harvard Family Research Project, designed to share new ideas and experiences in evaluating systems reform and comprehensive child and family services. The issue focuses on after-school programs and includes the following articles: (1) "Building the After School…

Recognizing that violence is demographically concentrated in the male minority in inner cities is a necessary starting point for discussions of how to combat this violence. A conference on the prevention of youth violence was held in May 1996 to throw light on the problem of youth violence directly and specifically. Participants in this conference…