Discusses common themes in five papers on rural community psychology: myth that rural life is naturally supportive, importance of community needs in designing prevention programs, risks of labeling diseases, rural psychologists as developers/advocates, using advice/direct suggestion, thinking in systems/ecological terms, role/boundary conflicts,…

Surveys the outlook presented by former and present chemistry and biochemistry doctoral students toward their graduate program. Poses questions to determine what aspects are deemed important. Suggests seminars and quality advisors are important factors. (ML)

Provides an overview of the current status and future directions of education for limited English proficient (LEP) elementary and secondary students in the United States, covering the estimated number of LEP students and teachers, government and legislative roles, school district services, teacher training programs, research, and program…

A norm-referenced achievement test, in combination with supplementary items, can be used to produce norm-referenced data as well as objective-referenced data. The experiences of the Palm Beach County (Florida) school district in developing and using such a test are described. (EGS)

Reviews factors affecting the implementation of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act's Chapter 2 provisions in South Carolina, including demographic changes, recent state educational legislation, and characteristics of Chapter 2. Analyzes the impact of Chapter 2 in 10 districts. (PGD)

This study was designed both to determine if patrons are able to discern differences in library performance and to investigate relationships between patron evaluation and use of public libraries. Highlights include study procedures, instrumentation, data collection, results of data analyses, and interpretation of results. Eighteen references are…

Seven articles on library reference services highlight reference obsolescence in academic libraries, major studies of unobtrusive reference tests, methods for evaluating reference desk performance, reference interview evaluation, problems of reference desk control, online searching by end users, and reference collection development in…

The readings in this ready-reference report on specific program evaluations, offer critical guidance in the development and utilization of instruments for assessing gifted and talented programs, and are designed to stimulate the discussion of issues surrounding the evaluation of gifted programs. Key features include: (1) Carolyn M. Callahan's…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds a 5-year program supporting the start-up of new small high schools of no more than 400 students and the conversion of larger high schools into smaller, more personalized schools or learning communities. This report focuses on the program's first year and compares new small schools, large high schools…

The main purpose of this study was to gather evidence regarding the existence of a Culturally Relevant and Responsive Educational program (CRRE) in schools and especially classrooms. The CRRE conceptual framework presents a comprehensive model dealing with all aspect of instruction and education (Maddahian, and Bird, 2004). To examine the…

This document consists of papers published in the electronic journal "Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation" during 2000-2001: (1) "Advantages of Hierarchical Linear Modeling" (Jason W. Osborne); (2) "Prediction in Multiple Regression" (Jason W. Osborne); (3) Scoring Rubrics: What, When, and How?"…

Results of a new statewide study on the benefits of the Illinois Community College System by economists document that community colleges have a strong positive impact on the state. The study found that investing in the completion of an associate degree translates into more than $345,000 in additional income over the remainder of a person's career,…

This paper argues that the federal government's role in vocational and technical education (VTE) should include a greater emphasis on systematically testing promising strategies and interventions and subjecting them to rigorous evaluations of their effects, implementation, costs, and benefits. Section 1 presents a rationale for rethinking the…

With the support of a planning grant from the National Library of Medicine, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) School of Information and Library Science (SILS), in collaboration with the UNC Health Sciences Library and the Program in Medical Informatics, evaluated five curricular models designed to improve education for health…

The Substance Use Prevention Education and Resources (SUPER I) program of the Austin Independent School District (Texas) is a school-based middle- and high-school curriculum that is offered as a positive alternative to long-term removals to students who have committed alcohol or drug-related offenses for the first time (excluding the sale or…