This report focuses squarely on strategies for instructional improvement in American high schools. Specifically, this study examines how high schools that perform below average incorporate their state's accountability goals into their own goals, identify their challenges, and search for strategies for instructional improvement. It focuses on how…

In this chapter, the author explores the overlap between adult literacy programs and community colleges by examining the literacy skills of postsecondary education students, the remedial/developmental programs that serve them, and the effectiveness of these programs and adult basic education in helping students succeed. As he notes, to obtain…

This report presents current research findings on teacher preparation and effectiveness. While some critics question the role of teacher preparation as a key to teacher effectiveness, this report contends that available research supports the importance of high quality teacher preparation. Well prepared teachers outperform those who are not…

The recent wave of accountability reform movements has largely overlooked the needs of middle and high school counselors, yet has generated daunting pressure for guidance programs to be standards-based and data-driven. Written from the perspective of a practicing, certified counselor, this guide contains essential information needed to implement…

This study examines five case studies of proposed school consolidations. None of the five proposed consolidations were voted by their constituents into reality. This report also examines the curricular impact that these variables have upon the secondary course offerings available as well as the lessons learned from 11 Committee of Ten members.…

"Connect with Kids" aims to promote prosocial attitudes and positive behavior of elementary (grades 3-5) and secondary (grades 6-12) school students by teaching core character values. Lesson plans include videos, story summaries, discussion questions, student games, and activities for both core and supplemental character traits. The…

"Too Good for Drugs and Violence" is designed to promote high school students' prosocial skills, positive character traits, and violence- and drug-free norms. The curriculum consists of 14 core lessons and an additional 12 lessons that can be infused into other subject areas (such as English, science, and social studies). Students engage…

Purpose: The paper deals with the study of students' computer literacy one of the purposes being demonstration the impact of the cognitive and non-cognitive personality traits (attention, verbal and non-verbal intelligence, emotional-motivational relationship with computer, learning strategies, etc.) on the quality of computer literacy.…

In recent years, state Medicaid programs have implemented significant change and innovation in delivering health and behavioral health services. Prepaid capitated financing and the provider networks created by Medicaid managed care expansions have altered systems of medical and mental/behavioral health. Most children in foster care receive…

Financial incentives for teen parents are components of state welfare programs intended to encourage enrollment, attendance, and completion of high school as a means of increasing employment and earnings and reducing welfare dependence. The incentives take the form of bonuses and sanctions to the welfare grant related to school enrollment,…

Educators know that quality early childhood intervention programs servicing children at risk for early school failure have immediate or short-term positive effects. However, there are different opinions on the persistence of long-term program effects on participants' academic performances. This study compared the performance on standardized tests…

Along with the rapid expansion over the past decade of Head Start, a program providing comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children, their families, and their communities, has come the demand for rigorous research to demonstrate program effectiveness. This report describes the proposed design of a national study of the…

The Visiting Clinician Program (VCP) was established in 1996 at a public medical school to provide individualized continuing education to participants and to foster closer ties between academic health center faculty and community practitioners who serve as preceptors for health professions students. Various methods have been used to evaluate the…

Effects of instruction in phonemic awareness during preschool and/or kindergarten on the metalinguistic development and subsequent reading achievement of young children with disabilities were investigated in this project. The main focus of study combined a longitudinal and experimental design in which 79 preschool children with disabilities…

A study involving random assignment of all youth eligible for Job Corps to either a Job Corps program or to a control group was conducted to assess the impact of Job Corps on key participant outcomes. Participants in the study were nationwide youth eligible for Job Corps who applied for enrollment for the first time between November 16, 1994, and…