In 1997, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) published the first edition of "Preventing Drug Use among Children and Adolescents: A Research-Based Guide" to share the latest NIDA-funded prevention research findings with parents, educators, and community leaders. The guide introduced the concept of "research-based prevention" with questions…

This handbook is intended to help decision makers in developing-country governments and donor agencies in their efforts to utilize information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve and expand teacher professional development (TPD) activities. To the extent possible in a brief work, the handbook combines a global perspective--including…

Accountability in many and varied forms is being required of teacher preparation programs. Weiner (2000) explores the dichotomy of the belief that meaningful learning needs to be situated versus policy that demands educational outcomes be standardized. This contradiction demands urgent analysis as we look for appropriate measures of accountability…

Outcomes of guidance can be assessed at these three levels: individual, where they are immediate; organizational, where they are intermediate; or societal, where they are ultimate. They may result in learning outcomes, school effectiveness, economic benefits, or social benefits. Various designs of outcome evaluation are described and…

A study reviewed the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department of Labor's (DOL's) Veterans' Employment and Training Service's (VETS's) administration of the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) and Local Veterans' Employment Representative (LVER) program. While veterans received priority employment services at one-stop centers, VETS did…

This research brief is published at the mid-way point of a five-year study that is analyzing a spectrum of programs in four states to identify outstanding English instruction in secondary schools. Outstanding schools are defined as those whose students beat the odds and outscore their peers in comparable skills on high-stakes, standardized test of…

Few would argue against the idea of planning and implementing improvements to the nation's schools. This report contends, school improvement planning processes have frequently not been conceived in ways likely to produce desired learning outcomes for many students. The analyses presented in this report focus on a lack of attention to how schools…

In June of 1998, Proposition 227 was passed by 61 percent of the California electorate. The initiative was intended to significantly alter the ways in which the state's English learners (ELs) are taught. Proposition 227 requires that ELs be taught "overwhelmingly in English" through sheltered/structured English immersion (SEI) programs…

This book examines the various components of hospital, residential, and outpatient treatments for children and adolescents with mental disorders. Options and settings for residential care are presented, including the principles and practical issues, such as providing continuing education, that underlie the decision making for placement of youth in…

The evaluation reviews the implementation of the "Crossroads Cafe" English language instruction program in Florida, focusing on the program's management, training, and overall effectiveness as measured by its impact on adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers and learners. "Crossroads Cafe" is a series of videotape…

A study evaluated the Kentucky statewide school-to-work (STW) system through surveys of 633 K-12 teachers, phone interviews with 395 employer-participants in STW activities, and 328 randomly drawn employers. Data analysis identified six themes relevant to improving and sustaining STW: (1) working toward bringing program implementation to scale at…

In the prevailing atmosphere of concern for basic skills development, Houston Community College System (HCCS) faculty and administration perceived the need for a self-evaluation of HCCS's developmental studies programs. The purposes of the resulting study are: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of the institution's developmental studies programs by…

This book provides a rationale, model, and procedures for implementing change in high schools. Focus is on adoption of applied, context-based, community-based education that eliminates competition between academic and vocational education and promotes cooperation in creating career-based education. Chapter 1 provides a review of how this type of…

With the transformation of the welfare system, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reviewed the employment and training components of 13 of its programs. The evaluation begins with a literature review that identifies these four groups of elements associated with positive outcomes: employment services that have an employment…

Early Head Start was designed in 1994 as a 2-generation program to enhance children's development and health, strengthen family and community partnerships, and support the staff delivering new services to low-income families with pregnant women, infants, or toddlers. This document contains the final technical report, appendixes, and local…