Recent studies have found that investing in high-quality early childhood development (ECD) programs can positively impact children, their families, taxpayers, and the government. Studies suggest that one critical form of education, early childhood development is grossly under-funded and managed, investment in ECD yields an extraordinary return on…

In industry, performance evaluations allow employees and supervisors to share their thoughts on how the other is doing. But how does a board evaluate the performance of its directors or trustees, especially a nonprofit board composed of volunteers? In higher education, there is no profit measure or stock price to track. The Board of Trustees of…

Integrating the study of the Holocaust into the middle school curriculum is a formidable challenge. This article describes the approach taken by Whitwell Middle School in Tennessee: When teachers found that students were having a difficult time comprehending the number of Jews and others killed by the Nazis, they decided to have the students…

This brief summarizes a study by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) of community college management practices that promote student success. This study addresses the limitations of previous research on the effectiveness of undergraduate institutions in several ways. It takes advantage of a rich set of longitudinal student unit record data…

The paper first presents the essential viewpoints of general characteristics of open distance learning (OLD) and the short historical origins. The second part presents some pedagogical terms of reference for Open distance learning as the quality of ODL, the criteria of successful ODL (planning, successful interaction, work and emotional climate,…

Congress created Early Head Start in 1995 to support healthy prenatal outcomes and enhance intellectual, social, and emotional development of infants and toddlers to promote later success in school and in life. This policy brief summarizes findings of the Congressionally mandated National Evaluation of Early Head Start and offers policy…

At Columbia College, a 2-year college in California, an Early Alert program was implemented in the middle 1980s to alert students at risk of academic failure to potential problems. With the exception of a few years in the 1990s, the program has been conducted each semester. In the fourth week of the semester, instructors are asked to identify…

Growing interest in universal preschool education has prompted researchers to examine the potential costs and benefits of making high-quality preschool available for all children one or two years before kindergarten entry. The analysis reported in this document builds on a previous RAND study which estimated that a high-quality, one-year,…

This annual report describes the goals and activities of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). The AGB is dedicated to strengthening the performance of boards of public and independent colleges and universities and to advancing the practice of citizen trusteeship that distinguishes U.S. higher education. This…

One of the most effective ways to raise awareness about a problem and generate support for solutions is through the media. This guide describes the basic principles of media relations that can help organizations develop an effective media strategy for underage drinking prevention. The tools that are necessary for this strategy, including news…

This letter reviews actions by the New York State Education Department and New York City Board of Education as of January 2002 to implement recommendations contained in a prior audit report. The audit found that the Department and the Board did not always perform adequate analysis to determine the effectiveness of various consultant programs being…

Based on surveys of 375 elementary, middle, and high schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS), this report identifies differences and similarities in the development and quality of these schools' programs of school, family, and community partnership, examining how NNPS members at various school levels implemented partnership…

The prekindergarten (pre-K) program is an important part of the systemic effort by the Austin Independent School District, Texas (AISD) to help every student meet the state's student performance standards. In 2000-2001, 41 of the district's schools offering pre-K (79% of all elementary schools) had full-day programs and 17 had half-day programs. A…

Family literacy programs, of which there is no shortage, need to be examined to know "if" and "why" a program is successful. Family literacy programs, like any literacy programs, must be viewed from a critical reflective stance. This paper aims to describe one way of evaluating the effectiveness of family literacy programs. The…

This report examines the evidence that high-quality preschool programs can help to improve the school readiness of at-risk children, focusing on 10 programs that have been the subjects of careful evaluations. These programs include four well-known "model programs" (High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, the Carolina Abecedarian Project, the…