During my first year of practice as a new action learning facilitator undertaking an "ILM Level 5 Certificate in Action Learning Facilitation", an innovative Individual Service Fund pilot was launched by "Certitude", the organisation for which I work. The aim of this pilot was to enable people with learning disabilities and…

In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extended grants to three educational organizations working to develop or enhance competency-based approaches in large, urbanized school systems. The grant initiative, called Project Mastery, funded the development of technology-enhanced tools, including curriculum materials and online learning…

In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation created the Project Mastery grant program to support competency-based education initiatives in large school systems that serve a high proportion of disadvantaged youth. Competency-based education meets students where they are academically, provides students with opportunities for choice, and awards…

Universities across the nation have been called upon to provide evidence of student learning through direct means of assessment. Value-added assessment, which aims to document the development of student learning from the beginning of the university experience to the end, has been called "accountability's new frontier" by the American…

Practice and Research Together (PART) is an Ontario-based research utilization initiative, the core function of which is to distil and disseminate practice-relevant research findings to child welfare practitioners. This article addresses (a) the mission and goals of the PART program; (b) the key components of the program design; (c) the conceptual…

This article aims to evaluate the whole-class reading program Language And Reading Skills (LARS) and its effects on the decoding, reading comprehension, and language abilities of 1st-language (L1) and 2nd-language (L2) German 2nd graders. The program consisted of teacher training and differentiated reading materials adapted to the needs of both L1…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

Background: REBOUND is a novel media-based life skills and risk education programme developed for 14- to 25-year olds in school, university or youth group settings. This paper outlines the programme's rationale, curriculum and implementation. It provides information of relevance to researchers, programme developers and policymakers. Methods/design…

This appendix presents the data collection instruments used for the "National Evaluation of Title III Implementation: Report on State and Local Implementation" study. The purpose of this study is not to monitor Title III implementation, but to describe the implementation of Title III in states and school districts across the country. The…

This article presents the results of a program evaluation of an Early Truancy Intervention (ETI) program in elementary schools in a southern school district. The ETI represents a cooperative effort between a southern district State Attorney's Office, and public elementary schools in the largest county in that district. The results indicate a…

Background: The Equipping Youth to Help One Another Programme (EQUIP) was designed for young offenders to address a developmental delay in moral reasoning, distorted cognitions and social skills. Methods: The present authors undertook a single case series study and piloted an adapted version of the EQUIP programme with three men with intellectual…

This article takes a systematic approach to reviewing substance use prevention programs introduced in elementary school (K-6th grade). Previous studies evaluating such programs among elementary school students showed mixed effects on subsequent substance use and related psychosocial factors. Thirty published evaluation studies of 24 elementary…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

American businesses and industries have long identified shortages in key career and technical areas--some of these areas require two- or four-year college degrees, whereas others simply require industry certifications. Career and technical education (CTE) has the potential to play a central role in filling these gaps. The current Carl D. Perkins…

Searching for employment during this recession-battered market has proven difficult for many new college graduates. As unemployment trends and hiring outlooks continue their slow resurgence, the competition for jobs remains fierce, and the students are feeling the pressure. In this article, the author describes Nichols College's new, web-based…