This paper recounts the modification of a specific communication context, teacher evaluation, to produce improved instruction and better teacher-supervisor relationships. Dissatisfied with a checklist-based evaluation system considered moribund by many, a committee of teachers, administrators, and educational professionals at Anchorage (Alaska)…

The Wisconsin Child Care Improvement Project's (WCCIP) community-based approach to building child care capacity is described in this document. The WCCIP assists Wisconsin communities in their efforts to increase the availability and accessibility of quality child care. The work provides a rationale and identifies needed resources and information.…

The Milpitas Unified School District's efforts to utilize information on school effectiveness and improvement research are reported. The first section gives a historical perspective on the district's activities in the area of implementing the school effectiveness research. This is followed by a discussion of the assessment and planning process…

This guide was developed to assist teachers in achieving goals related to the development of computer awareness in junior high school students in the Canadian province of Manitoba. An overview of the program describes a set of basic concepts, skills, and attitudes relating to computer technology, and provides information on activities that can be…

This paper discusses the systematic approach to the integration of microcomputers into all phases of instruction that was implemented in the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1984 under the Computer Education Foundation Program (CEFP). It begins with a brief description of the school district to provide a context for the reader. The current…

The program model presented in this handbook is directed to urban high schools in crisis. In 1982, Central High School in Providence, Rhode Island, was such a school. Thirty percent of the student body came from low-income families, violence erupted regularly, it was difficult to maintain discipline, academic achievement was consistently below…

Intended for reading teachers, supervisors, and administrators, this guide can be used to develop a parental involvement program. The book first presents a preprogram survey, an informal assessment of attitudes and skills that are important in parent programs. Chapter 1 contains the parent reading engagement profile, which includes guidelines and…

As educators across the nation launch into frenzied efforts to "do something" in response to the various recommendations of commissions on educational excellence, many are forgetting that knowledge of how to implement change is available. This paper focuses on three concerns that educators must face when fitting general recommendations…

This paper considers the growing trend of collaboration among school districts, addressing the national trend in general and examining the perspective of and the trends in Mississippi in particular. The trend in Mississippi is a natural outgrowth of the reform movement in the state and will probably continue on both a formal and an informal basis…

This manual is intended to assist those Peace Corps field staff and volunteers who are considering or planning an all-volunteer conference (that is, an inservice event that is designed to provide personal, programmatic, and technical support to Peace Corps volunteers). The first chapter reviews current practices (including objectives, designs, and…

This booklet attempts to explain distance education in a short and readily understandable way. It tells what distance education is as well as what it is not. Users of distance education are described. Other topics include the basic system and subsystems of distance education; ways of communicating; what makes distance education materials good;…

The Certified School Personnel Evaluation Pilot Program (Outside Evaluator Project) has two primary purposes. The first is to compare evaluations performed by persons employed by an agency other than the units to which they are assigned with evaluations performed by locally-employed personnel. The second purpose is to determine the effectiveness…

In the last fifteen years, the concept of field-based experiences has changed from a Schools, College, and Department of Education (SCDE) focus toward a consumer-oriented model. This paper briefly reviews the early goals and describes the definitions which differentiate clinical experiences from field experiences which may help clarify research…

This report evaluates the 1984 Search for Elevation, Education & Knowledge (SEEK) prefreshman summer program at Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY), and describes its curriculum, staffing, recruitment of students, and objectives. Ninety-four students were enrolled: 73.4% were 18 or 19 years old; 73.0% were women; 90.4% were…

This document describes a youth suicide prevention program in Arizona developed jointly by the Help On Call Crisis Line and the Family Crisis Service to provide an area-wide school-based prevention program for use in a multicultural community. A review of programs in other cities and states is described and the decision to develop a…