The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), schools districts, and institutions of higher education have initiated a number of efforts to improve teacher quality and professional development. The first section of this report highlights the recommendations of leading commissions and reports released in the past ten years pertaining to…

The question of whether graduates of Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) programs are getting what they want from training was examined. A market segmentation approach was used to analyze data from the 2001 Student Outcomes Survey (SOS). The market segments analyzed covered 93% of TAFE graduates surveyed in the 2001 SOS. The…

The impact of career academies on student education and employment outcomes is being examined through a comprehensive longitudinal evaluation of the career academy approach in 10 high schools throughout the United States that were selected because they reflect the school districts where career academies are typically located. Most of the school…

In July 2001, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) agreed to the development of assessment instruments and key performance measures for reporting on student skills, knowledge and understandings in primary science. It directed the newly established Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce…

A project was conducted to determine the need for and to create a distance learning-based staff development program for adult literacy instructors throughout Pennsylvania. Each of Pennsylvania's 306 adult literacy programs was sent a survey regarding their staff members' access to and knowledge about distance learning technology. Of the 100…

This report describes phase VI of the Equity Staff Development project, an ongoing project to achieve equity and diversity at Wisconsin technical colleges by creating an institutional climate supporting achievement by all students. Among the project's major activities and outcomes are the following: the existing train-the-trainer format of peer…

A longitudinal study examined adult basic education (ABE) in Virginia between 1970 and 1985. (The first study was conducted in 1970, the second in 1978, and the third in 1985.) Data for the 1985 study were collected from survey instruments mailed to all state department ABE personnel, local ABE supervisors, learning center coordinators, and ABE…

This handbook provides a model or process for examining the impact of a community school. Specifically, it provides a step-by-step guide to assessing impact by looking at voting, public opinion, attendance, and vandalism data. Other potential indexes of impact are also discussed. The steps involved in conducting an impact evaluation are similar to…

A study examined approximately 130 projects that were conducted in New York between November 1980 and December 1983 as a part of the state's Short-Term Program for Economic Development. During the study, researchers interviewed representatives of the businesses, industries, unions, and educational institutions involved in the training programs in…

This report details a two-part study to describe the Minnesota secondary and adult consumer and homemaking program and to identify "special" consumer and homemaking programs and describe them through case studies. Questions in the study focus on responsiveness to the 1976 Vocational Education Amendments. The methodological approaches…

Focusing on education and training needs for law enforcement and criminal justice personnel, this document is one in a series of six volumes reporting the results of the National Manpower Survey (NMS) of the Criminal Justice System. Chapter 1 of ten chapters provides an overview of nine types of educational and/or training programs, including the…

As mandated in the 1973 Amendments to the Safe Streets Act, the National Manpower Survey of the Criminal Justice System was conducted to assess current and projected manpower needs, personnel quality, and training and education programs. Data were collected from the following sources: surveys of 8,000 executives of state and local criminal justice…

This packet contains assessment instruments used to evaluate the effectiveness of Project MOVE (Maximizing Options in Vocational Education) graduate-level courses. (Courses are offered over a two-semester period to vocational educators, administrators, and counselors.) An introduction discusses evaluation methods and presents a chart listing…

A statwide evaluation study of Adult Basic Education (ABE) in Virginia was conducted during the 1977-78 school year and its findings compared to those of a 1970-71 study. The program factors addressed include the following: actions taken on the 1970-71 recommendations; student personnel services; instructional program; curriculum design; the…

A research project examined adequacy and appropriateness of traditional means of teacher preparation for health occupations programs and made recommendations for change. Its specific task was to survey (via questionnaires) all personnel involved in health occupations programs at the secondary, postsecondary, and adult levels in various educational…