The Agricultural Act of 2014 authorized $200 million for the development, implementation, and evaluation of up to 10 pilot projects to test innovative strategies to reduce dependency on and increase employment among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. The 10 States that received grants were California, Delaware, Georgia,…

The author is a site manager employed by a small community-based organization (CBO) that provides afterschool programming at a number of school-based sites scattered throughout southern King County in Washington State. As such, he belongs to one-half of the afterschool youth development (AYD) workforce: the (for the most part) full-time, salaried…

Orienting and training 4-H volunteers are critical to individuals and the organization. The two-part study reported here re-establishes the profile of the 4-H volunteer and evaluates both the format and content of e-Learning for 4-H Volunteers modules launched in 2006. Volunteers from seven states perceived that online modules made learning more…

Radical acceleration from middle school to university is an unusual option in the United States. The Early Entrance Program and the University of Washington (UW) Academy for Young Scholars housed in the Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars are two of only 21 early university entrance programs offered in the United States. Due to…

How did Washington create a clear organizational structure that assigns responsibility for each aspect of transfer policy to the group that is best suited to manage it (Kisker, Wagoner, and Cohen, 2011)? In this chapter, the authors will introduce the agencies, organizations, and entities that have played a key role in gathering information,…

In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the multi-year, multi-million dollar Washington State Achievers Scholarship program. Concerned about disparities in college participation for low-income students in the state of Washington versus their wealthier peers, the Gates Foundation partnered with the College Success Foundation…

The love of learning--that intrinsic desire to gain knowledge and insight into new subjects--was once its own reward. That was altered decades ago when parents started using the proverbial "stick and carrot" to motivate their children to do well in school, or even just show up. Today, educators across the country have taken hold of this…

Background: Research shows that students who are overrepresented when it comes to failure are underrepresented when it comes to being taught by highly qualified teachers who are well prepared to teach students from diverse backgrounds. Teacher education, as one aspect of the educational system, plays a critical role in preparing teachers with the…

This study evaluates the initial effect of Washington, D.C.'s Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) on the academic performance of public schools and its effects on the opportunities that District students have to attend integrated schools. The OSP is a federally sponsored school voucher program that provides vouchers worth up to $7,500 for an…

The utility of a quasi-experimental evaluation design for estimating benefits derived from a program to match job-seekers to openings listed by employers was examined in three studies of Job Service referrals and placements in Washington and Oregon. Data examined included a mail survey of a sample of 587 Washington residents referred to job…

A study reviewed the efforts of six states (California, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, and Washington) to create new policies and strategies to support low-income individuals as they work. The study found the following: (1) working steadily initially after leaving welfare is linked to being employed in later years but is not linked to higher…

This second biennial outcome evaluation analyzes results of nine programs in Washington's work force training system that account for approximately 90 percent of public spending and recommends areas for improvement. Findings are from: program records on over 65,000 individuals who left one of the programs during the 1995-96 school year; mail…

A study focused on the implementation and project feasibility of the Youth Incentive Entitlement Pilot Projects (YIEPP) during the latter period of the demonstration from September 1978 through August 1979. Program operations at 17 sites--Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, King-Snohomish Counties (Washington), Mississippi, Alachua…

A study focused on the implementation of the Youth Incentive Entitlement Pilot Projects (YIEPP) in its initial period through September 1978. Program operations at 17 sites--Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, King and Snohomish Counties (Washington), Mississippi, Alachua County (Florida), Albuquerque, Berkeley, Dayton, Hillsborough…

The 4th and 7th grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) scores for the past several years have indicated that the percentage of students meeting the new higher standards is not satisfactory, although improvement is being shown every year. There are indications, however, that while some elementary and middle/junior high schools are…