Case studies of the British Training Credits (TC) initiative show that the notion of a market for training driven by young people as customers is largely mythical, due to such factors as recession, importance of local networks in finding employment, and marginal involvement of small businesses. (SK)

Concerned about the serious underrepresentation of culturally different students in gifted programs, the Palm Beach County (Florida) Schools developed a pilot project that established a system for identifying minority students with potential and for designing a course of study to meet their educational needs. The program featured enrichment,…

An evaluation of two pilot projects of inclusion of students from special schools for moderate and severe learning difficulties in mainstream primary and secondary schools in south-west England stimulated the development of a methodology and tools to measure levels and quality of inclusive activity. The unresolved theoretical debate about what…

This paper describes a project aimed at helping children and their families achieve their potential. It is based in an area of high social disadvantage. The authors explain how parenting classes held at a community college (a comprehensive school with provision for adult education), have led to the development of a suite of courses leading to…

In this technical report, we describe the development and piloting of a series of mathematics progress monitoring measures intended for use with students in kindergarten. These measures, available as part of easyCBM[TM], an online progress monitoring assessment system, were developed in 2008 and administered to approximately 2800 students from…

This report covers the third year of Chapin Hall's process evaluation of the Prime Time Initiative of Palm Beach County, Florida, a system-building effort to strengthen the quality of after-school programs in the county. During the past two decades, the after-school field has expanded enormously, partly in response to increasing concern about…

With increasing national and international support for the development of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) curricula in American medical schools, it is essential to measure what learners know and believe about CAM in order to assess outcomes of new teaching efforts. This paper describes the development and initial results of a survey…

As part of the formative evaluation of Alabama's pilot of its virtual schooling system (the Alabama ACCESS Distance Learning Program), the Alabama State Department of Education examined outcome data from courses offered in the two distance delivery systems: web-based course management and interactive videoconferencing (IVC). In light of Bernard et…

Reports on an effort to develop indicators for vocational education. Recommendations include (1) the process of indicator development must be continuous; (2) the need for both reflective thought and experience is important to indicator development; and (3) some of the indicators must be pushed to the stage of actual use. (Author/CT)

Despite a number of organizational limitations and shortcomings, a pilot project in Pakistan designed to make adults functionally literate with the help of television has been demonstrated viable. Three references are listed. (Author/LLS)

Reports selected findings from a national evaluation of a British pilot scheme for mentoring new headteachers, using questionnaire data collected from 238 new principals and 303 mentors and information from 16 detailed case studies. Mentoring was judged successful by most participants because it offered numerous benefits, including help with…

In July 1992, New American Schools Development Corporation (private, tax-exempt organization) announced selection of 11 designs to serve as models for schools of future. Nationwide competition sought to improve existing public schools with new ideas and money from corporate donations. Winning proposals incorporate concepts such as longer school…

Findings from a national evaluation of a (British) Department of Education pilot headteacher mentoring scheme suggest that the new headteachers involved significantly benefited. Mentoring offered a way to raise matters of concern and get appropriate advice, helped participants reflect on the headteacher role and gain a broader leadership…

An educational study of the barometric effect of cosmic rays was carried out using an inexpensive experimental set-up that allowed for long-term monitoring of atmospheric pressure and cosmic ray flux as measured in a Geiger counter. The investigation was intended as a pilot study in view of ongoing involvements of high-school teams operating…

Charter schools are publicly funded but operate outside the regulatory framework and collective bargaining agreements characteristic of traditional public schools. In return for this freedom, charter schools are subject to heightened accountability. This paper estimates the impact of charter school attendance on student achievement using data from…