The $17.2 million Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) demonstration grant program funded by the Ford Foundation which ran from 1994 to 2001 represents the largest philanthropic project specifically aimed at rural community colleges in United States history. While a good deal of literature has been published about this initiative, much was…

The Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project is the most comprehensive effort thus far to ascertain which approaches help welfare recipients and other low-income people stay steadily employed and advance in their jobs. Launched in 1999 and slated to end in 2009, the ERA project encompasses more than a dozen demonstration programs and…

The methodology and design of the process evaluation system of the Pawtucket Heart Health Program (an 11-year project for changing/documenting change in cardiovascular disease risk status of a northeastern city's residents) are described. Examples of the system's use are provided. The maintenance of such a system without substantial evaluation…

This evaluator's report of a career education project for the Detroit Public Schools is divided into two sections. Section 1, process evaluation, provides a summary of the activities reported by the project personnel for the eight deliverables collected and analyzed by the evaluator staff: (1) curriculum infusion, (2) career…

This interim report, part of a series of documents examining the feasibility of the longitudinal evaluation of Project Developmental Continuity (PDC), presents the results of an analysis of PDC impact at the Head Start level, using Spring 1977 data. PDC is a Head Start Demonstration Program aimed at providing educational and developmental…

This operations manual for field staff (site monitors, site coordinators, and testers) involved in the observation and testing of children is part of a series of documents on the evaluation of Project Developmental Continuity (PDC), a Head Start demonstration program aimed at providing educational and developmental continuity between children's…

This classroom observation manual (Fall 1976) was developed for use in the evaluation of Project Developmental Continuity (PDC), a Head Start demonstration program aimed at providing educational and developmental continuity between children's Head Start and primary school experiences. The manual provides detailed instructions for the observer on…

This executive summary of the final report of the formative evaluation of the Child and Family Resource Program (CFRP) demonstration projects recommends that the Office of Child Development (OCD): (1) assign a full-time OCD project manager to the demonstration in the early stages of the project; (2) implement a systematic approach to assure that…

The interim report outlines the second year objectives of a proposed three-year K-12 exemplary career education project for southeast Arkansas. A program description and evaluation of the project are provided by the evaluator. Grades K-7 focused upon knowledge about work were more significant than increases in self-awareness. Grades eight and nine…

Virtual schooling, or the practice of offering K-12 courses via distance technologies, has rapidly increased in popularity since its beginning in 1994. Although effective interaction with and support for students in these environments requires a unique set of skills and experiences, teacher education programs currently place very little emphasis…

This interim report describes the development of program implementation and cost studies for Year II of the process evaluation of Project Developmental Continuity (PDC), a Head Start demonstration program aimed at providing educational and developmental continuity between children's Head Start and primary school experiences. Specific areas focused…

This evaluation assesses Linking Up, a demonstration program investigating the process and consequences of mentoring. The program matched seventh- and eighth-graders with adult mentors in a small, rural junior-senior high school and an urban junior-senior high school. Student participants were selected to reflect the risk levels of each school's…

This report focuses on the School Action Effectiveness Study (SAES), the national evaluation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Alternative Education Program. It presents the history, start-up activities, successes, and problems encountered during the first year of the 17 action projects. In the first section, the…

A proposed evaluation model for measuring the impact of demonstration projects in vocational education defines sets of criteria, standards, and documentation for both interim and final acceptable evidence of project impact. Interim acceptable evidence is that evidence of project success which should be expected during the demonstration grant…

This report is a formative evaluation of the YouthBuild Demonstration Project that began in 1991 and ended in 1994. The YouthBuild Model, developed in earlier programs, was directed at young people who were largely disconnected from schools and jobs. Major components of the project were counseling, academic remediation with preparation for the…