Since the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), there has been a growing focus on improving the quality of programs for children with disabilities and measuring the results/outcomes of those programs. Across the country, IDEA Part C Programs for Infants and Toddlers and IDEA Part B, Section 619 Preschool…

Maryland public schools continue to pick up honors and receive recognition for the work going on in their classrooms. For the second straight year, Maryland's education system has been ranked as number one in the nation by "Education Week", the nation's leading education publication. The "College Board" followed that up by…

The Arkansas Department of Education Co-teaching Project was designed to assist Arkansas schools in the implementation of more inclusive service delivery models for students with disabilities. The project began due to a need to increase the number of students being served in less restrictive environments, but evolved into a systematic statewide…

As the national education policy community prepares for the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), revamping the school improvement approach leveraged by accountability systems has risen to the top of the agenda. There is an emerging consensus that the school improvement process should be systemic, led by states and…

This report describes Maryland's latest approaches to dealing with restructuring schools and other schools in NCLB improvement. Information for this report was obtained between September 2008 and January 2009 from interviews with Maryland State Department of Education officials and with administrators in three Maryland districts: Anne Arundel…

A group of low-performing schools received additional state funds to improve achievement as part of California's Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP). A mixed-method evaluation was conducted to determine whether II/USP schools outperformed similar non-II/USP schools, how teachers and administrators understood resources…

The Government of Alberta is committed to enhancing the well-being and educational opportunities of Aboriginal peoples in the province. As part of Ministry commitment to the Government of Alberta's Aboriginal Policy Initiative (API), a key priority is to improve First Nations, Inuit and Metis learner success. In the spring of 1999, a review of the…

We review a plan that attracted the attention of public sector planners everywhere, Oregon's 1989 "Oregon Shines: An Economic Strategy for the Pacific Century". In particular, we focus on Oregon's aspirations for world-class workforce quality; a status that the state's planners argued would contribute to a host of other outcomes that…

In March 2003, the Education Commission of the States, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education established a collaborative project to help states improve higher education performance by assisting with examination of state higher education policies and with…

Researchers conducted case studies of Ninth Grade Success Initiative (NGSI) grants to gain a greater understanding of issues facing large numbers of at-risk students, many of whom, despite potentially receiving services as early as kindergarten, still reach ninth grade unprepared to succeed academically in high school. Case studies focused on NGSI…

Most standardized achievement tests do not provide much information that can be used in improving an educational program. Teachers and other program developers need to know what kinds of program objectives are being learned and by what kinds of students and what kinds are not being learned and by whom. Information of this sort furnishes a basis…

The major issue of educational quality is linked to the potential of national and state assessment programs. It is suggested that changes in assessment design, analysis, and reporting can significantly contribute to improvement in the policy development process. The California Assessment Program illustrates how state assessment information may be…

The final report presents the findings of an evaluation project set up to obtain reactions to the farm training program in Wisconsin from trainees and instructors. Two hundred and fifty farmers were selected for personal interviews on their respective farms. Each interview session lasted approximately 50 minutes. Data were obtained from the…

Developed for use in New York State elementary school social studies program evaluations, this guide outlines procedures and suggests the design of forms for identifying key questions, gathering and analyzing relevant data, and developing plans for program improvements. It is intended to assess strengths and weaknesses within current programs as a…

A statewide career education needs assessment was done in Tennessee by surveying all superintendents and samples of principals, teachers, and community leaders. State employment security data and Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) scores for a sample of the state's ninth graders were secondary information sources. The primary conclusion was that the…