Presenting a description of career education activities in the state of South Carolina, the document contains several separate reports which are organized into four major sections. Section 1 contains summary accounts of the administrative and technical activities accomplished by the South Carolina Department of Education Career Education Office,…

This packet of evaluation guidelines and instruments, developed to aid the Kentucky Advisory Council, provides tools and guidelines for evaluating vocational education programs according to relevance of content, job entry skills, and employability skills. The first section is an overview of the evaluation procedures and describes the evaluation…

A summer school program stressing basic skills for migrant children in a rural Illinois community was assessed according to Stake's responsive evaluation model. Informal communication, program activities, audience needs, and participant values were emphasized in this case study. This evaluation method provided useful information for the state's…

Evaluation of state advanced technology programs has begun in response to budget reviews. Issues include: (1) political and institutional contexts of evaluation; (2) technical issues concerning outcome specifications, use of process indicators, and dependence on self-reported assessments; and (3) use of evaluation in policy making. (TJH)

In 1997, New York State passed legislation implementing Universal Prekindergarten (UPK), a new educational program with the goal of providing a voluntary, high-quality preschool experience to all 4-year-olds and improving school readiness. One of the program requirements is that school districts contract out at least 10 percent of UPK funds to…

Under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Congress established the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to expand health insurance coverage to uninsured low-income children. This report summarizes the major findings of the first year of a national evaluation of SCHIP. Following a summary of major findings, the report examines state…

This report describes five state systems of support in low-performing schools. Discussion of each state system includes a description of the accountability system, the process for identifying low-performing schools, funding resources available, the technical assistance provided, the provider of that assistance, and the resources used to support…

In fall 1998, the Maryland State Department of Education and six schools began a pilot program to evaluate the impact of serving breakfast to students in the classroom as part of the school day. Students in participating schools have an opportunity to eat breakfast in their classroom each day at no charge, regardless of family income. The program,…

Many states have initiated prekindergarten programs to better prepare young children to enter school. A "blueprint for quality" was used as the basis for evaluating state prekindergarten initiatives; the blueprint focused on four components: (1) ensuring the availability of prekindergarten; (2) ensuring high quality prekindergarten; (3)…

This article contains the responses of 22 states (and the District of Columbia) to a request to detail career education activities in their states. Responses concern career education growth, characteristics, leadership activities, cooperation within education, cooperation with the private sector, and how career education has affected all education…

Answers criticisms by Mary Anne Bunda, Ernest House, and Mary Kennedy. Discusses, among other issues, legal authorization for the use of higher quality evaluation designs and the use of evaluation research results. (GC)

The training, experience, and temperament of professional school staff does not prepare them to judge the strengths or weaknesses of school programs or make recommendations for improvement. Suggestions for priorities in teacher training institutions to improve this situation are presented. (JMF)

The nine Illinois Area Service Centers for Educators of Gifted and Talented Youth provide assistance to school districts in identifying gifted students and evaluating programs for the schools. (CL)

The educational reform strategies of Texas, California, and South Carolina are examined as they relate to reform outcomes. The current effort toward educational excellence must shift its focus from regulation and compliance monitoring to mobilization of institutional capacity. (SLD)