The current pressures of reduced government funding, lower enrollments, and greater scrutiny by governing boards require institutions of higher education to redesign processes and systems to survive. Despite resistance to Total Quality Management (TQM) in academia, it can provide the tools to implement systemic change and quality improvement.…

This report is the first annual report under the Nebraska legislature's Quality Child Care Act; it provides information on more than the past year to place the programs and services described in context. The report sought to determine the status of child care and early childhood education in Nebraska, recognizing that the younger the child, the…

School staff at the O'Connor Cooperative School in Australia had been concerned for some time about the difficulties faced by parents trying to fit traditional short preschool hours into their varying lifestyles. Their solution was to provide child care at the conclusion of the normal preschool session and on the two days per week that preschool…

This report presents the results of U.S. Senate-House of Representatives conference committee deliberations concerning amendments to S. 2000, the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1994, which is designed to reauthorize appropriations for fiscal years 1995 through 1998 to carry out the Head Start Act, the Community Services Block Grant Act, and…

The California Department of Education awarded Amnesty Education Program funds to service providers to serve immigrant adults needing to fulfill legalization requirements by obtaining a Certificate of Satisfactory Pursuit, and to make available to immigrant adults education and training that would enable them to succeed in school and become more…

This conference was the first major professional event since the politics of "perestroika" and "glasnost" began to have an impact on relationships between librarians in the U.S.S.R. and the remainder of the world community. A substantial English language source on professional education in the U.S.S.R., this is a collection of…

A Swedish study examined student and teacher perceptions regarding career education (CE) and working life orientation in Sweden's lower secondary schools. Twenty-seven pupils and a total of 30 school professionals (13 teachers, 8 career teachers, 3 school welfare officers, and 6 head teachers) from 3 lower secondary schools were interviewed. The…

A study examined the relationships between parent involvement practices and student outcomes in 10 Chapter 1 project schools in the Honolulu school district. The research on parent involvement was reviewed extensively to identify research questions and develop various instruments. Questionnaire surveys and interviews were conducted with parents,…

The Texas Education Agency identified the need to implement an evaluation system of performance standards for selected vocational education programs as required by the Perkins Act. The project developed criteria to assess vocational education in secondary schools in Texas. Two objectives were met during 1990-91: conduct background research on…

This paper addresses methodological and substantive issues regarding the use of portfolios of students' work in Chapter 1 evaluation and program improvement. In evaluations using portfolios desirable characteristics of the evaluation procedure are objectivity, reliability, and validity. The Chapter 1 Evaluation/Program Improvement System (CHEPIS)…

This paper traces one example of area support for schools to show how an administrator can initiate school-effectiveness work. The paper describes the implementation of an intervention plan for social justice and improved educational outcomes for aboriginal students, the Social Justice Resource Schools (SJRS) program, which was established in the…

This publication reviews and examines similarities in the writings of major teacher education reform advocates, including John Goodlad, The Holmes Group, the National Commission on Excellence in Education, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and the Academy for Educational Development. Based upon a compendium of recurring…

This report provides a first-hand description and analysis of reforms initiated in the administrator-preparation program at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). USM is one among eight public and private institutions in Mississippi that are currently redesigning their administrator-preparation programs in accordance with state mandates and…

This paper discusses a preparatory program for educational leaders at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). The report outlines the numerous calls for reform of preparatory programs and focuses on the four factors motivating reform efforts: a move away from a managerial to a human-centered perspective; a continued orientation on the…

This paper comments on issues of quality in early child care and education from an international perspective, asserting that questions about how to determine quality are as complex for early childhood programs as for all other professional services. The paper's introduction discusses the world wide trend of expansion in the amount of out-of-home…