In 1996, Kansas launched the nation's most sweeping attempt to radically transform the child welfare system by implementing a privatized form of managed care. Four years later, the child welfare system shows signs of instability and seems very much in transition. This report examines the current status of the child welfare system in Kansas and…

McCosh Even Start is a federally funded project at McCosh School in an inner-city Chicago neighborhood and is administered as a partnership between Northeastern Illinois University and the Chicago Public Schools. The program's goals are to help parents: (1) become involved with the school by becoming comfortable at the school, making friends, and…

The Free to Grow pilot project, developed by the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and its Head Start project, operated between 1994 and 1999. Following a 2-year planning and development stage, 5 project sites went on to complete the 3-year implementation phase in California, Colorado, Kentucky, New York, and Puerto Rico; the…

This document consists of the three 1999 issues of The Bernard van Leer Foundation's "Early Childhood Matters." This periodical, addressed to practitioners in the field of early childhood education, evolved from an in-house publication directed to projects funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. Articles in the February 1999 edition…

In 10 articles presents a variety of guidance and counseling programs providing models for career education and community resources; support groups; work preparation for women; scheduling and computers; personalized tutoring; the counselor role and the adult student; career clubs; and program evaluation. (RC)

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a handicapped child necessitates a program amenable to evaluation. A comprehensive approach consists of evaluability assessment, process evaluation, outcome evaluation, and consumer evaluation. Utilization of each strategy results in obtainment of evaluation information for program development,…

Describes a comprehensive career education program designed to assist community students in transition from school to work. Strategies used to establish community support are reviewed. A Career Education Model used by participating school districts is described and major project accomplishments based on this model are listed. (RC)

The primary objective of a training program based within an internal medicine department at the University of Texas Medical Branch was to increase the interviewing skills of medicine residents, especially regarding the psychosocial aspects of patients. The program, evaluation methods, and results are described. (JMD)

Reports on a study to: (1) design, implement, and evaluate an undergraduate peer-helping program curriculum with the major objective of facilitating cognitive/affective maturity and (2) test the effectiveness and practicality of using formative research in designing and evaluating the program. Discusses findings and implications. (AYC)

Suggests establishing an advisory committee to obtain input for effective updating and expansion of a communication curriculum; describes the activities of such a committee set up at a community college in Fremont, California. (AEA)

Analyzes 15 ongoing foreign language program articulation projects that demonstrate what can be accomplished toward establishing coherent sequences, goals, and assessments. (51 references) (CK)

Examines the use of e-mail to facilitate second language acquisition in an immersion education setting, with particular focus on an e-mail exchange between college students of Japanese as a second language in Australia and native speakers in Japan. Suggests that e-mail is a potentially valuable medium in language learning and could be useful in…

Discusses how e-mail correspondence should be supported and integrated into the overall second language learning program. Reviews a telematics international e-mail exchange project, focusing on the documentation of integration of the project into the overall language program. Findings reveal that the strength of this work is in showing how its…

Describes the curriculum of the public television program "Between the Lions" (BTL), a series modeling behaviors and skills that foster early literacy. Shows how BTL incorporates developmentally appropriate early literacy practices. Highlights teachers' comments illustrating how BTL is being used in different classrooms and how it…

Describes changes in Head Start programs in the remote bush villages of Alaska over the past 25 years. Emphasizes the custom-designed teacher and staff training program. (BB)