This report documents arts and humanities programs in communities across the country that offer opportunities for children and youth to learn new skills, expand their horizons, and develop self-esteem and well-being. The report describes the variety and vitality of arts and programs humanities programs for children and youth and common…

The Resolving Conflicts Creatively Program (RCCP) described in this book asserts that schools must educate the child's heart as well as the mind. RCCP began in 1985 as a joint initiative of Educators for Social Responsibility Metropolitan Area and the New York City Board of Education. The program started in 3 schools in New York City and has…

Many states give individual schools the authority to make decisions in response to local conditions while still meeting state and district goals. Providing flexibility to local decision-makers is also a potential means for improving student achievement. This report provides a snapshot of several states' recent experiences with flexibility and…

This biannual review of research describes promising research models that are helping all students, including students with disabilities, manage their own behavior in school settings. The common features of school-wide systems of behavioral support are identified and include: (1) total staff commitment to managing behavior; (2) clearly defined and…

The question of whether economic development programs can be evaluated seems simple, but the answer is not simple because of the nature of evaluation. Determining a program's effectiveness requires the evaluator to distinguish changes due to the program from changes due to nonprogram factors. The evaluator must focus on outcomes caused by the…

A cooperative program in Benton Harbor, Michigan, joins schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and a university to address local work force issues and needs identified by area employers and to place program graduates in jobs with a livable wage in an area of high unemployment and crime. The program consists of two major instructional…

Throughout the world, women are underrepresented in technical fields as a result of the segmentation of the labor market and the internalization of expectations for women. Distance education can make an important contribution in overcoming barriers to women's participation in technology in the developed and developing world. The Open University in…

A study assessed the effectiveness and efficiency of the curriculum development process in local vocational schools in Turkey. The study design included 14 vocational high schools and 12 companies that hired graduates of these schools in 4 relatively large and developed cities. Three data collection methods were used: interviews with principals,…

This issue contains five articles about assessment in adult literacy programs. The first article, "Living Literacy: Rethinking Adult Learner Assessment" (Susan L. Lytle), focuses on developing alternative forms of assessment such as literacy portfolios to identify changes in four dimensions of adult literacy over the course of literacy…

An action research study described and evaluated a classroom lending library that was rich in developmentally appropriate literacy material and was designed to facilitate communication between the child's school and home. The kindergarten classroom was located in the southwestern area of Baltimore, Maryland. The children themselves staffed the…

In 1996, the effectiveness of New Jersey's Perkins Act-funded single parent/displaced homemaker and gender equity programs in increasing clients' knowledge of nontraditional careers was evaluated through a 60-question survey that was administered to all clients before each program began and 6 weeks after completion of those portions of the…

In 1995, the three colleges in California's Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD) surveyed 6,151 former students from 1993-94 to gather information on student outcomes and characteristics. This report presents Volume II of the survey results, providing four brief analyses of the responses presented in Volume I. The first report provides a…

This digest, based on a larger report of the same title, summarizes principles for improving quality in higher education institutions. Emphasis is on the effect of the principles when they are used holistically to create a culture of academic excellence. The quality principles are based on the conceptual framework of total quality management (TQM)…

The Title I program, the federal government's largest elementary and secondary school program, has been redesigned in order to make improvements in the nation's poorest schools. This brochure describes a two-volume book that provides examples of schools and communities working together to provide children with more time to learn. The strategies…

The Title I program, the federal government's largest elementary and secondary school program, has been redesigned in order to make improvements in the nation's poorest schools. This handbook comprises the first of two volumes that provide examples of schools and communities working together to provide children with more time to learn. The book…