Describes the Community Reading Month (CRM) initiative in Iowa City, Iowa; its goals are to promote the value of reading and to build a sense of community. Topics include the development of CRM, increased reading scores of Iowa City's elementary school students, activities for people of all ages, and planning and evaluation. (AEF)

Describes the development of a Comenius project involving four European countries, which focused on school self-evaluation. The project resulted in an international course held in Italy. The paper describes the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the course, noting problems and solutions, strengths and limitations, recommendations for…

Attitude change among older and younger participants in intergenerational programs is investigated. While elderly participants in several programs reported positive feelings resulting from their involvement with children, children's attitudes attributed to intergenerational experiences were mixed. Research should consider longitudinal growth and…

Briefly outlines some of the Federal school improvement efforts during the last two dozen years that led to the development of a procedure (here described) to measure the performance of programs for Limited English Proficient students. Results of a field test of the measurement procedure are discussed. (BJV)

Provides an annotated bibliography of eight ERIC documents on customized contract training at community colleges. Summarizes documents related to an overview of contract training and analyses of national and statewide surveys of training practices; planning, promoting, managing, and evaluating customized education; and creating partnerships. (BCY)

College alumni associations are using a variety of approaches to improve alumni participation. Surveying alumni for needs and preferences can be fruitful. Program ideas include career planning, parent programs, community service, student relations activities, and high school recruitment. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation is crucial to…

Recommendations for planning a successful training workshop for college alumni volunteers include assuring the association is organized and the program well timed; making sure everyone agrees to budget and/or financial commitments; using seasoned volunteers to conduct a feasibility study and determine training needs; making training enjoyable; and…

Ideas are provided for postsecondary institutions with limited resources wishing to increase their services to learning-disabled students. Practical suggestions are offered on how to define service eligibility, provide reasonable accommodations, establish diagnostic testing procedures, maximize existing ancillary equipment and services, market…

Offers guidelines on evaluating services provided by Advanced Technology Centers on an ongoing basis. Discusses the meaning of impact; strategies for measuring impact; evaluation variables; examples of possible measures (e.g., total wages paid by service area industries); and the need to invest time and resources in evaluation. (DMM)

A strategy is presented for using media exposure to increase evaluation use, including reasons for using media, suggestions about whether to use mass (print and electronic) or specialized (interest-group oriented trade) media, and 10 recommendations for effective use. Program change can be accelerated when media are used effectively. (SLD)

The article proposes that the key to tracking and evaluating the academic progress of college students, particularly at complex institutions, is development of a longitudinal tracking system with flexibility to support a diverse community of users and applications. Considerations for efficient maintenance and effective use of such a system are…

A discussion of the Canada Student Loans program argues that it lacks vertical and horizontal equity and creates a work disincentive, program rules need updating to reflect inflation and tax rate changes, and the government is controlling the cost of program interest subsidy inefficiently. An alternative program design is proposed. (Author/MSE)

The University of Minnesota's required six-week ambulatory medicine clerkship provides a comprehensive orientation to ambulatory care through planned integration of patient care with academic work. Responses of both students and faculty have been enthusiastic, with the benefits compensating for high costs in preceptor time. (MSE)

Strengths and weaknesses of three types of semiquantitative methods used by the federal government in research impact assessment are presented, and examples of their use are reviewed. These include the classic retrospective method, another retrospective approach, and accomplishments books used by selected research-sponsoring organizations. (SLD)

This article describes a university course designed to introduce preservice teachers to current technologies, help them attain a reasonable skill level using these technologies, develop effective integration strategies, and become critical thinkers and evaluators of digital information. The development and evaluation of the program is discussed.…