This document evaluates the effectiveness of the Los Angeles Unified School District's Academic English Mastery Program, a program designed to serve students whose lack of proficiency in standard American English is an impediment to academic performance. This study used random sampling, experimental and control groups, and three principle data…

This book provides guidance on developing an effective evaluation plan for adult English language programs, whether in the context of family literacy, workplace and workforce literacy, or general language development. With an emphasis on surveys, interviews, observation measures, and performance samples, the authors show how staff members and…

Western Illinois University's College of Education and Human Services is redesigning its undergraduate teacher education program. The program places volunteer freshmen in real classrooms for long-term observations and volunteer assistance, eventually leading up to a full range of teaching opportunities. Also, coursework is presented in an…

Sectoral employment training programs attempt to provide disadvantaged people with good jobs that pay living wages and offer opportunities for advancement, using innovative approaches to employment training and interacting with industries to create systemic change in labor markets. The Sectoral Employment Development Learning Project (SEDLP) is a…

This descriptive study in the Cleveland (Ohio) public school system evaluated the impact of an intensive, school-based mental health program. Forty-two African American elementary school students were referred for school-based mental services due to overt behavioral problems. Children were evaluated for risk status across three domains: community,…

Since 1993, the Delaware Department of Correction has offered a Life Skills Program in its four state prisons. Each year, as many as 300 inmates (of the 5,000 housed inmates) enroll in the program, and nearly 85 percent of them graduate. The 4-month program has three major components: academics, violence reduction, and applied life skills. The…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a program to motivate students to learn through multiple intelligences, cooperative learning, and positive discipline. The targeted population consisted of students in kindergarten, fourth grade, and sixth grade at two grade school and one middle school sites. Evidence of lack of motivation…

This study examined the role of teacher capacity building in the Dallas Reading Plan, a 5-year, systemic reform initiative committed to enhancing students' reading achievement, emphasizing the redesigned Reading Academy, a trainer of trainers delivery system that supported educators' knowledge acquisition. Implementation and outcome data were…

This report summarizes three bodies of research on teenage pregnancy and programs to reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy. Studies included in this report were completed in 1980 or later, conducted in the United States or Canada, targeted adolescents, employed an experimental or quasi-experimental design, had a sample size of at least 100 in the…

The Jump Start program is a preschool program serving about 4,000 four-year-olds in a partnership including Head Start, Even Start, a tuition-based program, and the Kentucky preschool program mandated by the Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA). This study compared the family of Jump Start programs and a comparison group on student academic…

Lacking the resources of larger organizations, small businesses are often unable to find skilled workers to fill immediate employment needs and to identify strategies to meet their future workforce needs. In some communities, business and trade organizations, community colleges, and other public and private organizations have partnered to create…

Multiple qualitative methodologies were used to describe and analyze the Maternal and Child Health Training Program (MCH), including a review of FY1999 continuation applications for all 101 projects; site visits to 31 training projects; focus groups with state Title V program staff and federal regional MCH consultants; and interviews with 110…

Even Start programs integrate early childhood education, adult literacy or basic education, parenting education and support, and parent and child time to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. This report describes the Even Start program in Colorado, and includes evaluation questions and methods. The report presents evaluation findings…

This paper examines the effectiveness of the University of North London's Early Childhood Studies Scheme (ECSS), exploring student characteristics and how its YC100 Study Skills module addressed students' needs. The module empowers nontraditional ECSS students by building a self-confidence and skills infrastructure that teaches them how to study,…

This action research project evaluated a program to improve students' ability to resolve conflicts. Many students of the targeted third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms lacked a well-defined sense of classroom community as well as the ability to resolve conflicts peaceably. Research indicated that specific skills needed to be taught. For this…