This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the faculty performance appraisal programs at the participating institutions. Faculty perception, regarding the effectiveness of the faculty evaluation appraisal program at their institution can be an important part of assessing the program itself. The study attempted to identify whether…

Over the course of several Roundtables held with out-of-school time program providers involving dozens of organizations, Child Trends has learned a lot about the concerns and wishes of the hardworking people who run out-of-school time programs. In this brief, the author and her colleagues share several themes that have emerged from these…

The "Wyman Teen Outreach Program" (TOP) is a life skills curriculum for 12- to 17-year-olds that aims to prevent negative youth behaviors, such as school failure and early pregnancy. Trained facilitators deliver the curriculum in weekly classes throughout the school year. Participants discuss topics such as goal-setting, peer pressure,…

Spelling skills are essential for school success (Fulk & Stormont-Spurgin, 1995; Matz, 1994). Teachers need an efficient method for teaching spelling strategies to students with learning disabilities. Although research in spelling has attempted to improve spelling instruction for teachers in classrooms (Henderson, 1985; Graham & Miller, 1979;…

We describe our contributions in using information and communication technologies (ICT) to address the digital and knowledge divides in developing regions. These include the implementation of new prototype systems using "state-of-the-art", low-cost technologies based on the scientific audience, the local information technology…

Impact evaluations assess the degree to which changes in outcomes can be attributed to an intervention rather than to other factors. Such attribution requires knowing what outcomes would have looked like in the absence of the intervention. This counterfactual world can be inferred only indirectly through evaluation designs that control for…

This article describes Emory University's Excellence Through Leadership program. Started in 2006, the yearlong program is designed to help up to 20 administrators and faculty members annually improve their leadership skills, as well as create a pipeline to eventually replace senior leaders at the institution. Emory's leadership program is just one…

Golf has become a popular sport for kids throughout the world; however, many do not realize that it is also a sport that offers benefits to children with physical challenges. Golf can be used for recreational purposes and as a motivational tool for rehabilitation. These two principles serve as the foundation upon which Texas Scottish Rite Hospital…

Literacy interventions in the family context have great potential to promote reading development in children. However, the results of meta-analyses indicate that family-based approaches tend not to be as effective as expected. Although the effectiveness of family literacy interventions can be assumed to hinge largely on the quality of their…

Do researchers make a difference with the research they conduct? Most people would like to think so. In this paper, the author argues that much of the research conducted by researchers is guided primarily by personal interests and needs and not because of professional needs or identified gaps in knowledge. The author also argues that experiential…

Coordinating a summer school program can be a very tedious process. Everyone involved, from the support staff to the teachers to the administrators can become overwhelmed with the politics and population enrolled in one's summer program. However, with full understanding of its student population and resources, schools are then prepared to initiate…

The degree specification project is a simple, yet pragmatic process of crystallizing the "identity" of the degrees offered in each discipline. In other words, what should students expect to have in the way of skills, knowledge, and abilities once they complete a degree in a specific discipline? Faculty first articulate three to five…

The current study examined the effects of task interspersal on the performance of matching-to-sample tasks by three children with autism. A pre-baseline assessed each child's mastery level of a large body of matching stimuli. These matching tasks included matching identical and non-identical animals, numbers, letters, and shapes. Through this…

In this article, we reflect upon what research and other evidence tells us about the effects of many years of sustained, centrally initiated government reforms upon teachers' work, lives and effectiveness. It is important to note that whilst the general intentions of school reform are almost always to improve standards of teaching, learning and…

Mentoring programs pose some special challenges for quality assessment because they operate at two levels: that of the dyadic relationship and that of the program. Fully assessing the quality of youth mentoring relationships requires understanding the characteristics and processes of individual relationships, which are the point of service for…