This Facilitator's Guide is based on What Education Leaders Should Know about Virtual Education, an online course designed by the Center on Instruction and the New England Comprehensive Center. The Facilitator's Guide demonstrates step-by-step how to build the course on a learning management system (LMS) and provides instructions on all phases of…

Achieve and the U.S. Education Delivery Institute have developed a practical Common Core Implementation Workbook for all states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). This workbook uses a proven performance management methodology known as "delivery" to lay out clear action steps for states and districts. It…

The purpose of the DESK (Developing English Skills and Knowledge) Program at Louisiana State University (LSU) is to help deaf and hard of hearing students make a smooth transition from high school to postsecondary institutions and, in doing so, to ensure their academic and professional success. This handbook documents, in a "how-to"…

American high schools have a major gap to close--a gap that threatens not only the future of the students they serve but of the nation as well. At a time when postsecondary education or training has increasingly become a must for young people, most students continue to leave high schools unprepared to pursue those options. Until recently, there…

Intended primarily for teachers and administrators, this paper presents 20 guidelines as the basis for an evaluation procedure for workbook, skillbook, and ditto master components of basal reading programs. The paper begins with a discussion of how and why workbooks are used in the classroom, a description of the original study from which the…

This guide identifies 45 toys appropriate for young children with visual and/or motor impairments. Criteria for the toys selected include the following: provides sound feedback, has brightly colored surfaces with high contrast colors, provides surfaces that are interesting to touch, stimulates thinking by requiring specific actions or problem…

Describes six criteria for evaluating materials that will be addressed in forthcoming columns: content validity, transfer potential, adaptability/flexibility, amount of reinforcement, quality of directions and instructional language, and bias. Uses this criteria to evaluate "First-Start Read-Along Program 5," a reading series for primary students.…

This pamphlet presents guidelines that have been developed to help business sponsors make the most effective use of available resources in the development of materials for consumer education and information to help consumers become better decision makers in the marketplace and to become more participatory citizens. The guide outlines the steps…

Steps to simplify and evaluate software selection are provided, with specific guidelines for selection criteria. Included are four sample evaluations of educational courseware. (MD)

Describes the production of master instructional materials as one step in a project management model for instructional development. Maintaining a balance between instructional integrity and production values is discussed; the manager's role is described; and guidelines for involving subject matter experts and the sponsors in production are…

Kindergarten isn't what it used to be. No longer is kindergarten a place for learning the social skills needed for success at school and sprinkled with a few letters, numbers, shapes and sizes. Today, kindergartners are expected to head to first grade as beginning readers with basic skills in place to ensure their success in core content areas. To…

In order to meet the needs of the High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, research was conducted to develop product evaluation methods for instructional videos. Compiling suggestions from the literature and synthesizing the instructional design methodology of several researchers, an instrument was developed to help a…

Designed to help educators prepare materials for newly literate individuals, this guidebook is comprised of four chapters. The first two chapters provide background material explaining the needs and requirements of newly literate people. Chapter 1 characterizes "post-literacy" materials and services and discusses the role of the…

Reprinted from the "The Computing Teacher," this collection of nine articles presents information on computer software selection and evaluation. The articles include: (1) "The DISC Model for Software Evaluation and Support Material Design" (Shelley Yorke Rose and Carol Klenow); (2) "Selecting Computer Software--We Take It…

Discusses the Columbian Quincentenary statement of the National Council for the Social Studies. Recommends that key ideas and basic knowledge of the statement be used to evaluate instructional materials. Suggests questions developed from the ideas in the statement. Includes interconnectedness of world history and effect on Native Americans and…