Success for All is a schoolwide program developed by R. Slavin in the late 1980s. It has expanded from a single urban school in 1987-88 to approximately 300 schools in 23 states in 1995-96. The program serves all elementary school students. It relentlessly pursues success for every student, attempts to prevent learning problems, and intervenes…

This technical assistance paper answers the question, "How can quality education programs for young children be assured?" by addressing four issues: components of quality early childhood programs, measures to counteract pressures for inappropriate practices, types of early childhood programs, and program evaluation methods. The paper…

The Professional Development Laboratory (P.D.L.) is a model for staff development in which experienced teachers serve as peer coaches for other teachers who want to refine their skills, learn and practice new skills, and share classroom techniques with one another, in selected New York City school districts. Visiting teachers spend 3 to 4 week…

According to the General Accounting Office (GAO), at least 154 programs administered by 14 federal departments/agencies provide approximately $25 billion in annual employment training assistance. The GAO reviewed 62 of those programs in December 1993, and a U.S. Senate committee requested basic information about 88 of the programs in June 1994.…

Noting that, generally, low-literate adults in Labrador and Newfoundland (Canada) are being helped only through the altruistic efforts of literate volunteers, this paper argues that adult literacy must be professionalized and become an integral part of the education system. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the definitions of literacy,…

This Digest argues that management factors are central to youth program successes and failures and that these factor have been ignored in research on youth programs. Instead, the Digest notes that research and evaluation of programs have focused on the following: (1) whether the right audience is served; (2) whether to make incremental…

The Texas Education Agency identified the need to implement an evaluation system of performance standards for selected vocational education programs as required by the Perkins Act. The project developed criteria to assess vocational education in secondary schools in Texas. Two objectives were met during 1990-91: conduct background research on…

Smaller class sizes in California were viewed as a way to improve K-3 education, especially in the area of literacy. The urgency to act prompted state leaders to adopt class-size reduction (CSR) without knowing for sure that it would work and without establishing a formal procedure for evaluating the program. This report looks at past research on…

From its inception, Head Start's legislative mandate called for "maximum feasible participation" of parents in all programmatic efforts and policy decisions. Nevertheless, there has been little research done on the benefits of Head Start to parents and on the role of parents as mediators of child and family outcomes. The Head Start…

This study examined the relationship between schools and community education in Scotland from September 1996 to April 1998, and provides a national overview and identifies examples of effective practice in collaboration and joint provision between schools and community education. The study was undertaken in two stages. The first stage provided a…

J. Vella, P. Berardinelli, and J. Burrow (1998) described the "accountability process" of program evaluation. This process was implemented to evaluate a Parents as Teachers program after a year of operation. Evaluation included determining goals, identifying objectives, and determining the focus. Critical elements were identified for…

The Drug Free Schools and Communities Act program for the Jefferson Parish Public School System (JPPSS) in Louisiana is designed to provide a comprehensive and developmental substance abuse prevention education program coupled with an early intervention program. The JPPSS program exists in each of the 84 public schools and a portion of the…

Background information is presented on components and practices in adult English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) literacy programs. In Part I, Characteristics of ESL Literacy Programs, answers are given to questions covering definitions of an ESL literacy program, who the students are, goals of ESL literacy programs, and types of literacy programs…

Cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis are two related yet distinct methods to help decision makers choose the best course of action from among competing alternatives. For both types of analysis, costs are computed similarly. Costs may be reduced to present value amounts for multi-year programs, and parameters may be altered to show…

The Bronx Educational Services (BES) was funded by the National Institute for Literacy to conduct activities to meet the following three objectives: (1) to develop and implement an evaluation to assess whether BES students improve their reading skills to a statistically significant degree as measured by the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE);…