To what extent school improvement processes can be initiated and sustained from the outside has been a relevant question for policy-makers seeking to increase quality in education. Since 2008, the Chilean Government is strongly promoting the use of external technical support (ETS) services to support school improvement processes, as part of the…

The purpose of this study evaluates the work completed in the "Jefferson County Public Schools" (JCPS) project, "Making Time for What Matters Most", aiming to improve student achievement, narrow achievement gaps, strengthen students' college readiness skills, and increase the percentages of students who graduate and go on to…

It is true that many child care centers are lacking in natural environments. The emphasis in programs is more often about rules and regulations for children's health and safety, and concerns about allergies, the weather, and getting dirty. It is also difficult to take groups of children into natural environments with inadequate ratios of adults to…

Background: School accountability policies and high-stakes testing have created new demands on state policy makers to provide assistance to low-performing schools. California's response was the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP) and the High Priority School Grants Program (HPSGP). Objective/Research Question/Focus of…

Discusses the evaluation of library reference service; examines problems with past evaluations, including the lack of long-term planning and a systems perspective; and suggests a method for continuously monitoring and improving reference service using quality improvement tools such as checklists, cause and effect diagrams, Pareto charts, and…

This report discusses child-care needs and consumer education for low-income families, the types and value of information they receive when participating in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program, the different approaches to child-care consumer education, case studies on the child-care practices that are detrimental as well as those…

This document consists of four consecutive annual program evaluation reports covering the years 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, respectively. These reports detail the results of the annual product evaluation of the federally funded Chapter 1 prekindergarten program of the Saginaw, Michigan School District. The purpose of the prekindergarten…

This paper discusses how the management of conflict in an international teaching assistant (ITA) training program can benefit all stakeholders and maintain good will between departments and the ITA program by encompassing strategies for mutual gain. It focuses on how the ITA training program at New Mexico State University has resolved many of the…

This report presents a plan of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education's Project FORUM to establish and implement the on-going process of identifying national program information needed for improving the management, administration, delivery, and effectiveness of programs and services under the Individuals with Disabilities…

This guidebook has been developed to provide Nebraska communities with a practical process to reach a shared vision of library and information service and to put that vision into action in practical steps. The manual is part of the state's Continuous Library Improvement Program (CLIP), a planning process that includes goals and an action agenda.…

This hearing transcript presents testimony on National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules related to payments to student athletes. Testimony was heard from individuals and groups concerned with the influence of money on college athletics, unethical and illegal payments to college athletes, the exploitation of college athletes by colleges…

These hearing transcripts present testimony on the high risks and emerging fraud in several areas of the federal government, including the Student Loan Program of the Education Department (ED), the Multifamily Housing Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax return filing. Testimony…

The use of the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) in combination with other funding has been an important factor in the development of initiatives to expand and improve child care services in rural areas. Based on their personal knowledge, a technical advisory group and experts recommended states with innovative, unique, and successful…

Strengths and weaknesses of prevailing evaluation models are analyzed, with attention to the role of feedback in each paradigm. A framework is then presented for analyzing issues faced by evaluators of interactive instructional technologies. The current practice of evaluation relies heavily on 3 models developed over 20 years ago: (1) the…

Head Start, the federally funded, comprehensive child development program for low-income preschool children, was reauthorized by Congress in 1990 with a sufficient increase in funding to serve all eligible children by 1994, and to strengthen the Head Start program in general. The National Head Start Association mailed 1,800 surveys to Head Start…