In the prevailing atmosphere of concern for basic skills development, Houston Community College System (HCCS) faculty and administration perceived the need for a self-evaluation of HCCS's developmental studies programs. The purposes of the resulting study are: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of the institution's developmental studies programs by…

This paper explores the effectiveness and efficiency of multimedia-computer-based text accompanied by illustrations, graphs, simulations, and animation in teaching chemistry. The paper cautions that although multimedia may be a means to more effective teaching, there is no assurance that it increases student learning. Studies suggest that…

Although support for parents has been common in Dutch policy and practice since the early 1990s, recent efforts are focusing on improving the match between supply and demand, improving coherence, and making it easier to identify and to access relevant support agencies; efforts are also focusing on prevention. This article examines how the…

Students around the globe have unique first-year experiences but struggle with many of the same challenges. This monograph focuses on their journeys and provides insights for educators interested in learning about how institutions across the globe provide supports to students dealing with first-year transition issues. Based on the successful…

A significant challenge facing the juvenile justice system is the task of transitioning and reintegrating juveniles from youth corrections facilities back into the community. This challenge, in part, is related to determining whether the referred community programs are effective. This article summarizes the literature on the effectiveness of…

Scallywags is a community-based, early intervention programme for young children (aged 3-7) with behavioural, emotional and social problems, which integrates work in the home and school with a parenting curriculum and direct work with children. A pre-post intervention study across multi-sites of 340 participants is reported. Using standardised…

The Even Start program was authorized by Congress in 1988 to provide early childhood, adult, and parenting education to participating families in a family literacy initiative. This document provides an executive summary of the National Evaluation of Even Start, which assessed services, participants and effectiveness. The summary highlights topics…

A study was conducted at Golden West College (GWC) in California to analyze the relationship between first-time students' participation in the college's assessment and orientation programs and their fall-to-spring persistence at the college. The study sample consisted of fall 1991 students who had declared either transfer, degree, or certificate…

The Mt. Hood Community College National Tech Prep Demonstration Center program is described in this performance report. The report details the following activities through which the center contributed significantly to educational reform: (1) information dissemination (including distributing information packets to more than 2,770 sites, hosting 63…

The Allied Health Certificate Program at Massachusetts' Bunker Hill Community College has been successfully integrating academic and vocational education since 1986. The integration of English as a Second Language, academic education, and occupational training was a direct response to requests from business and industry for a competitive…

The Building College and Community Services for Single Parents and Displaced Homemakers Project at Austin Community College (Texas) successfully achieved its goals for Project Year 1994-95. Formative and summative methods of evaluation show that the project accomplished the following: developed cooperative linkages with more than 12 businesses and…

The result of a collaboration between the El Paso, Texas, school district and community agencies, the Focus on First Graders program provides early intervention and prevention using a comprehensive approach to providing a variety of services at the school to at-risk first graders from low income families. Teachers and parents were surveyed to…

In September 1995, the Scranton Area Family Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, initiated a twice-weekly literacy class designed to build low-income parents' educational skills and personal confidence while simultaneously encouraging family literacy activities. Eight parents of children in the Scranton School District attended the class and received…

The Maryland Higher Education Commission surveyed more than 2,500 employers in the state to learn what programs at various degree levels were desired by employers. The results were examined along with labor market data about the projected number of job openings in specific occupational areas. It was concluded that nearly 60 percent of job openings…

Juvenile programs presented at five Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) State and Local Programs Working Meetings serve as the focus for this report. The following topics were covered at the meetings: (1) Rural Issues and Programs; (2) Treatment, Rehabilitation, and Education; (3) Understanding and Combating Violence; (4) Preventing Drug Abuse and…