A major focus in Phase III of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study is on the relationship between classroom interaction patterns and school effectiveness. This paper presents observations on similarities and differences between prior teacher and school effectiveness studies, the LSES-III methodology, and preliminary results from one of the…

This brief summarizes findings from implementation, impact, and cost-benefit evaluations of Accelerating Opportunity (AO). AO is a career pathways initiative launched in 2011 that aims to help adults with low basic skills earn valued occupational credentials, obtain well-paying jobs, and sustain rewarding careers. AO was one of the first efforts…

This report presents the findings of the cost-benefit analysis of Accelerating Opportunity, an initiative designed to help adults with low basic skills earn industry-recognized credentials in high-growth occupations and succeed in the labor market. It compares the value of the benefits associated with AO--principally labor market benefits--with…

This report presents findings from a survey of students enrolled in Accelerating Opportunity (AO) career pathways in spring 2014. AO provides grants to help community colleges create career pathway programs to enroll students with low basic skills into for-credit career and technical education courses to improve educational and employment…

Launched in 2011, the Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative aims to increase the ability of students with low basic skills to earn valued occupational credentials, obtain well-paying jobs, and sustain rewarding careers. AO encourages states to change the delivery of adult education for students interested in learning career skills by enrolling…

Accelerating Opportunity (AO) combined integrated career pathways at two-year colleges with team teaching, acceleration strategies, supportive services, and policy changes. It aimed to help low-skilled adults earn occupational credentials, obtain well-paying jobs, and sustain rewarding careers. This final implementation report documents activities…

The second annual implementation report for the Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative in four states finds that: (1) colleges aligned pathways and supports with local needs; (2) students were satisfied with AO; (3) AO instructors grew more adept at team teaching; (4) colleges struggled to recruit adult education students; (5) states and…

This paper examines the major influences of state minimum standards of pupil proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics; state curriculum guides; basic skills testing; and a state-funded compensatory/remedial program on public schools in Louisiana since 1980. The state testing program is described in some detail. Its influence in the home is…

This report on what can and should be done to raise the literacy rate in Louisiana recommends that: (1) a state literacy office be established under the office of the governor to coordinate and facilitate the state's literacy programs; (2) a standard operational definition of literacy be established; (3) a Louisiana Literacy Foundation be…

One of a series of studies examining Louisiana's compensatory education program, this study investigated four assumptions upon which a skill-specific intervention program was based. Framed as questions, these assumptions are: (1) Is retention effective for students who do not know basic content for a given grade level? (2) When is retention most…

An eight-week summer program was conducted to prevent 80 high-risk adolescents from dropping out of high school. The 32 females and 48 males selected for the project were all residents of rural areas of northern Louisiana who had been identified by their public school guidance counselors as being at high risk of dropping out. The program model…

Phase I of a study was conducted to identify the basic mathematics competencies needed for job success in office occupations (14 job clusters). It also sought to determine the differences between employees' and employer/supervisors' perceptions of the degree of importance of mathematics skills for office occupations. Following a review of…

This booklet along with six others comprises a curriculum guide developed for adult education supervisors and teachers of undereducated workers or job seekers whose inability to develop the skills and obtain the knowledge necessary to meet the requirements of the working world are primarily due to a lack of competence in reading and math skills.…

This paper examines the characteristics of the Louisiana Compensatory/Remedial Education Student Profile form and the nature of the compensatory education program evaluation served by the Student Profile. The Student Profile is a one page, triplicate form prepared by the Louisiana State Department of Education for each grade 2 student who failed…

Project Apple Core (Adult Performance Level), a 15-month project funded through Section 309 of the Adult Education Act of 1966, was carried out in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, to provide a career-oriented instructional program for undereducated and underemployed adults in that area. The document briefly describes some aspects of the project, in…