Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) integrates the teaching of basic skills and technical content in order to accelerate basic skills students' transition into and through a college-level occupational field of study. The study reported on here represents the final phase of a multi-year evaluation of the I-BEST model that began…

The second annual implementation report for the Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative in four states finds that: (1) colleges aligned pathways and supports with local needs; (2) students were satisfied with AO; (3) AO instructors grew more adept at team teaching; (4) colleges struggled to recruit adult education students; (5) states and…

"Learn and Earn" programs offer one channel for ameliorating some of the workforce challenges that are of concern. Learn and Earn programs involve partnerships between postsecondary education institutions and employers to provide opportunities for adults to attend college while maintaining their employment. One such example is…

In 2006, six community and technical colleges in Washington State joined the innovative national reform initiative called Achieving the Dream (ATD). This report describes the progress each college made in implementing ATD's "culture of evidence" principles for institutional improvement, examines strategies implemented by the colleges to…

An evaluation of the automotive engineering pre-apprenticeship course, as found in technical colleges in New South Wales, Australia, was conducted to gather information from pre-apprentice and day-release students concerning student background factors, teaching processes within the course, outcomes of attendance in the course, and course…

The Research, Planning and Development Office of Milwaukee Area Technical College has developed a program evaluation procedure that quantitatively assesses 13 variables considered to be important indicators of program viability. These variables are used in three separate stages of the program evaluation: program monitoring, in-depth program…

A screening mechanism using objective data was developed to determine which of the nearly 60 different associate degree and diploma occupational programs offered by Gateway Technical Institute should be subjected to in-depth evaluation and at what frequency the evaluation should be conducted. Four factors for which objective data were available…

States that, with limited budgets and taxpayers becoming more results oriented, institutions of higher education must develop evaluation processes to ensure that programs are meeting the needs of stakeholders. Describes one such process at Fox Valley Technical College (Wisconsin) that includes: (1) selection of programs; (2) preliminary…

This document is designed to provide enough information for technical colleges and similar institutions to conduct their own focus visits. A focus visit is defined as a full-day activity that takes place on the campus during which a team of 10-25 individuals (program faculty, former and current students, technical college staff, advisory committee…

Program evaluation at Waukesha County Technical Institute consists of two phases: a review of student enrollment, job placement, and program costs, which occurs every two years; and a comprehensive review of program content, student job performance, and instructional effectiveness, which occurs every five years. A schedule for conducting program…

A project was conducted to study impacts of vocational education research and development with special emphasis on the job placement and followup program in Indiana. The specific objectives were (1) to investigate the impact of R & D projects in vocational education and the conceptual and methodological problems in impact studies, and (2) to…

This report, by the South Carolina State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education Division of Instruction, allows the individual colleges and the system to examine programs in terms of productivity, job availability of graduates, and placement of graduates. The policies and procedures allow for programs to be phased out when new technology…

This four-part application for the National Center for Research in Vocational Education's 1995 Exemplary Career Guidance and Counseling Programs award describes the goals and operations of a student services and counseling program at Washington's Renton Technical College (RTC). Parts 1 and 2 present general information on the program for 1993-94,…

This study was designed to determine the extent to which public postsecondary vocational-technical education leads to success in the labor market. Eighty-three graduates from a technical institute, plus two control groups from the local public high schools comprised the subjects for this ex-post facto analysis. F ratio and t tests were used to…

The adult basic education (ABE) program at Nicolet Area Technical College (NATC) evaluated its training and development (T&D) process for new basic education instructors. The study gathered monitoring and screening criteria that addressed valuable components for use in an instrument for validating effectiveness of the ABE program (T&D)…