This paper describes one component of the Study of Dissemination Efforts Supporting School Improvement, which focused on the role that external facilitators play in helping schools implement new educational practices. The first part describes the external facilitator sample (95 respondents) and delineates the major formal role groups of external…

One model that can serve as a guide for developing a reading program and for making necessary refinements to meet the specific needs of the school system served divides the stages of development into three phases. The first phase, program organization, deals with planning, implementing, and maintaining the program. In other words the first phase…

This document traces the development of the testing and reporting system used in the Elkhart Community Schools (ECS), Indiana, from 1981 through 1985. Performance objectives were established when the program was initiated. Analyses of standardized test results were provided for teachers, principals, and central administrative staff. All school…

Guidelines for purchasing computers and for curriculum planning are offered as a beginning for educators interested in computers. The first section includes eight steps to take in planning for a computer, a chart of a microcomputer infusion model, an article on rating the microcomputers, and guides to understanding the rating factors and computer…

This practicum report presents a plan to reduce referrals for psychological evaluations in the schools in Dade County, Florida. Three goals of the plan are identified: (1) to reduce the backlog of referrals in three elementary schools; (2) to improve the placement rate of those students who are referred; and (3) to help teachers identify children…

Career ladders have been proposed as one way to address problems rural and small schools have in recruiting academically able and talented teachers, recognizing them once they start teaching, and retaining them in the teaching role. While there are differences in career ladder plans, there are also some common features, e.g., predetermined…

Several of the major considerations involved in implementing a statewide testing program are discussed. The test results provide information which influences the educational enterprise in matters of curriculum, instruction, guidance, and accountability. Tests to be used in an assessment program must be developed by the administering agency when…

Using the results of a national survey of over 500 schools identified as having good discipline, this handbook presents guidelines for improving school discipline. An introductory chapter offers an overview of the survey project. In the second chapter, the authors list 13 characteristics identified in the survey that are common to schools with…

Workshop sessions focusing on the issue of collaboration between health care services and day care services are documented in this report. The keynote address elaborates the thesis that day care programs should provide therapeutic care, particularly primary health care for ill children and staff, and assistance in obtaining secondary care. In…

Death education is presently viewed as an ongoing process throughout the life cycle, with the responsibility for it being shared by home, church, other community agencies, and the schools. Goals for a death education program include the following: to inform children of basic facts concerning the multidimensional aspects of death and dying; to…

This user's guide, the second of four training modules for similar benefits usage, is the result of a project of the University of Michigan Rehabilitation Research Institute in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) model program evaluation unit to examine the issue of similar benefits in the state-federal…

In lesser developed countries, interest has been growing in the role evaluation plays in the improvement of media-based education programs. Such programs include the use of television or radio to communicate a useful message to students, the general populace, or a particular group (such as mothers or small farmers). The message to be communicated…

Focusing specifically on the two largest federal education programs, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142), this study analyzes how states implement federal and state education programs. The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 offers background on federal-state…

This bulletin traces the history of Oregon's Child Development Specialist (CDS) program, desribes development of the program model, discusses the qualifications and role of the specialist, presents a brief overview of the implementation of the CDS program in Salem (Oregon), provides evidence of the state program's success, and suggests methods for…

This document summarizes, analyzes, and reflects upon the activities of the Southeastern Regional Center for the Improvement of Elementary School Social Studies established at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. There are five major parts to the report. Part I contains a narrative summary of regional center activity from 1969 to…