Presents the statement of philosophy and purposes for the Agricultural Education Program Area at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University that serves as a framework for planning, organizing, and conducting a quality program. The need for the statement and the process of creating it are examined. (CT)

This is the second of a two-part article that examines the growing phenomenon of formal preretirement education (PRE) efforts around the world designed to ease the transition to retirement life. Part II focuses on policy issues that have been raised by evaluations of existing PRE programs. (Author/CT)

Describes an evaluation of a summer career awareness workshop program for economically disadvantaged youth. The evaluation found that three-fourths of the 96 participants reported that as a result of the three-day workshop, they were closer to making a career decision. (CT)

This article describes a labor education program specifically targeted to working class women, who themselves form a minority within the labor movement. The focus of the article is on the Southern School for Union Women. (CT)

An accurate needs assessment process is essential in designing effective career development systems. This model helps to guarantee a high-quality needs assessment. It provides a basis for conceptualizing an ideal system for a particular organization, for describing what currently exists, and for identifying gaps between the real and the ideal. (CT)

New American Schools (NAS) was formed in 1991 to create and develop whole-school designs that would be adopted by schools throughout the country in order to improve student performance. This book is a retrospective on NAS and draws together the finding from RAND research. Chapter 1, the introduction, gives an overview of NAS, RAND's purpose and…

Assesses the effectiveness of youth work experience programs currently being carried out in the United States. Emphasizes the importance of Dewey's principles of continuity and interaction in assuring that such programs provide youth with meaningful and lasting skills and knowledge. (GC)

Identifies nine categories of essential elements found in three successful experiential education programs. Categories of program elements are: purposes; setting; characteristics of participants; learning strategies; student roles; instructor roles; product of learning activities; management and support; and program outcomes. (JD)

This study assessed Egan's hypothesis that a contract, spelling out in advance sensitivity group goals and member behaviors, facilitates positive interaction and interpersonal growth. Although results were not definitive, the contract group did seem to receive some additional benefits from sensitivity training, when compared to the non-contract…

This article describes the Wings Mentor Program in Maryland, a program developed to provide additional support to students with gifts who also have learning disabilities and highly able students who were not succeeding in the classroom. Students realize their creative and intellectual potential when paired with mentors who nurture them. (Contains…

Discusses the components of peer-mediated instruction and interventions (PMII) (including peer modeling, peer initiation training, peer monitoring, peer networking, peer tutoring, and group-oriented contingencies) and instructional systems that incorporate PMII components with other elements of effective instruction. Explores implications for…

Effective adventure programming is explained in terms of the "significant learning" experience, involving periods of tension, questioning, and transfer during personal and social learning. Adventure programming that is supportive, adaptive, and properly sequenced maximizes the potential of significant learning. Trust- and…

Participants of family preservation and family support programs (n=1601) were followed over time for future child maltreatment events. A total of 198 had at least one defined failure event over 1.6 years. Program designed to help families meet basic needs and programs using mentoring approaches were more effective. (Contains references.)…

This study examined whether the structural attributes of a formal mentoring program and/or certain demographic characteristics of participants in the program influence protege satisfaction. Proteges, employed in a traditionally male occupation, were sampled from a federal agency's mentoring program. According to policy, the agency attempted to…

Few pedestrian injury prevention programs appear to articulate the theory upon which their design and evaluation are based. This article describes how theory was used to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate the educational component of a comprehensive child pedestrian intervention. Organizational and planning theories were used to guide the…