Special education programs vary in the quality of services provided across states, cities, and school districts. There are three major components necessary for a quality special education program for children with complex learning needs. These components include systems level analysis, capacity building for staff, and strong individual student…

Researchers are increasingly interested in the issue of school accountability. Despite this, program standards for afterschool programs are not as fully developed as in other fields. This study bridges that gap and presents the results from a study to identify benchmarks and indicators for high quality afterschool programs. This research employed…

This evaluation study examined the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of the statewide master plan for professional development (PD Master Plan) by investigating seven questions. With regard to effectiveness, (1) What was the level of implementation for the PD Master Plan, overall and by individual providers? (2) What were the impediments, if…

In this evaluation, as in previous years, four main aspects of the implementation of the West Virginia Board of Education's Master Plan for Statewide Professional Development were examined: (a) basic information reported by providers about the size and scope of the effort, including attendance, and adherence to the newly adopted standards for…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the importance of new employee orientation (NEO) programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides a viewpoint of the importance of new employee orientation programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs. Findings: Although western…

High-quality care in the earliest years of life has been shown to relate to positive developmental outcomes for children, including improved early academic skills, social-emotional competencies, and cognitive functioning. Unfortunately, the early care experiences of many children are not always high quality; rather, research suggests that…

The "Personnel Development Program to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities" is authorized under Section 662 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and is known as the Personnel Development Program (PDP). The PDP is administered by the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) Office of Special…

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has become a policy priority in many countries. A growing body of research recognises that it provides a wide range of benefits, including social and economic benefits, better child well-being and learning outcomes as a foundation for lifelong learning, more equitable outcomes and reduction of poverty, and…

This report describes the design and implementation of the three interventions tested in Project Upgrade, one of four experiments conducted as part of the Evaluation of Child Care Subsidy Strategies. The evaluation was a multi-site, multi-year effort to determine whether and how different child care subsidy policies and procedures and quality…

A survey on primary education was conducted 18 months ago. The author discusses some of the findings and implications of the survey. (KC)

This is a manual designed to accompany staff development sessions in which research and evaluation personnel will discuss key areas with administrators, evaluators in schools, and area office personnel. Forms and methods for assessment and reporting of pupils' progress in a local school's instructional program are illustrated. The state…

The Head Start Teaching Center is a federally funded national demonstration project designed to test the efficacy of participatory training for staff in all components of Head Start services. The New England Teaching Center is designed to provide intensive training during a 3- to 5-day period of residence. Each Teaching Center conducts a regular…

Over the past decade, debates on the quality of early childhood services in Germany have focussed on four interrelated issues: access, programme quality, staff training, and evaluation procedures. Each of these four strands is presented and discussed in terms of the controversies and chances accompanying professional and public discourse.…

Examines the impact of administrator staff development programs on individuals and districts. Steps to help school districts improve evaluation efforts include examining school district culture and its support for development; ensuring that there are clear objectives and adequate resources for evaluation; and linking program goals to effective…

Presents results from a two-year study that evaluated an instruction staff development project in the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Public Schools. Findings are presented from classroom observations, teacher interviews, and student tests. The study reveals teacher improvement in their instructional decision making resulting in positive changes in…