Youth field days expose children to outdoor activities, land use ethics, and habitat conservation and encourage adults to be mentors in these areas. A typical youth field day could have programs in archery, fishing, boating, shooting, or safety. The event requires a diverse steering committee that usually includes sporting clubs and state…

More than two decades of research have pointed to the connection between childhood maltreatment and delinquency. In addition, recent research confirms that harm is inflicted on children who are subjected to family and community violence. The Child Protection Division was created in an effort to bring child protection to the forefront and to…

Out of a need for students to find a sense of belonging, Bainbridge College (Georgia) has started a peer-tutoring program, which recruits, trains and retains tutors of quality. The program has been in place for four years and has been very successful. Not only do tutors get the chance to help others with schoolwork, they also achieve personal…

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federally funded program providing supplemental food and nutrition services to lower-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women and also serves infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk. Included in these services are nutrition…

The America Reads Challenge Act of 1997 created a nationwide effort to meet President Clinton's challenge for American citizens to volunteer as reading tutors "to ensure that every American child...learns to read well and independently by the end of third grade" (USDOE, 1997). Research has shown that volunteer tutors can be effective in…

Evaluation is an important component of intergenerational programs. This paper argues that the approach to evaluation for the 1990s and beyond should be two-fold: first, intergenerational programs of all types must emphasize the thoughtful, comprehensive planning of evaluation; second, the intergenerational field needs to strengthen evaluation in…

This paper uses data collected through focus group interviews over two years to explore the relationship between teachers and tests. In the first year of data collection, two focus groups were organized; one group was composed of 7 elementary school teachers and counselors and the other group was composed of 12 high school teachers. The…

This skill packet presents training information on extended opportunities for student learning (before- and after-school programs, extended time, or extended school programs). The packet offers implementation suggestions, such as explaining what skills trainers need, how to prepare for delivering the packet, tips for working with adults, how to…

This publication is intended to help postsecondary schools understand draft cohort default rate data. It explains how the Department of Education calculates cohort default rates, the effect of cohort default rates, and how to read cohort default rate loan record detail reports. Also, it reviews electronic reports available from the Department of…

Since the fall semester of 1998, a committee of university faculty and local school system administrators has collaborated to design an alternative teacher certification program to meet the teacher shortage needs of the Hamilton County, Tennessee, schools. Areas of identified shortages include science, mathematics, and foreign languages at the…

In this paper, educators in a suburban middle school promote the positive educational outcomes from an alternating-day block schedule at their middle school. Comparisons are cited in student achievement and school climate indicators between the block schedule and the eight-period day with shorter classes. The paper cites several advantages of the…

In its sixth year of evaluating children's services, the Children's Program Outcome Review Team (C-PORT), under the direction of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, continued to collect and analyze data to improve implementation of service delivery to 11,800 children and families involved in state custody. The C-PORT evaluation for…

Under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Congress established the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to expand health insurance coverage to uninsured low-income children. This report summarizes the major findings of the first year of a national evaluation of SCHIP. Following a summary of major findings, the report examines state…

Findings are reported from a 50-state survey of state assessment and accountability systems conducted by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education in 2000. A four-step process was used to collect and verify data for the preparation of state profiles. Nine common layers of accountability have been identified: (1) a statewide system of…

This report, based on a survey completed by testing directors in states that are members of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), describes the status of online testing in SREB states. Overall, SREB states are paying limited attention to online testing. Only Virginia is moving systematically to implement online testing. By spring 2004, all…