In 2014, state and national leaders found many aspects of turning around America's low-performing schools even more daunting than in the previous year. These views were revealed in the Center on School Turnaround's (CST's) 2014 February/March survey of school turnaround leaders in State Education Agencies (SEA) and directors of the nation's…

The goal of the Center on School Turnaround (CST) is to provide technical assistance on research-based practices and emerging promising practices that will increase the capacity of states to support their districts in turning around the lowest-performing schools. When the CST opened its doors in October 2012, it began its work by asking the…

The article presents a conceptual model to be utilized in conducting the necessary needs assessment activities to implement a successful gifted program at the school district or state agency level. (Author/DLS)

This report describes five state systems of support in low-performing schools. Discussion of each state system includes a description of the accountability system, the process for identifying low-performing schools, funding resources available, the technical assistance provided, the provider of that assistance, and the resources used to support…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Services for Children with Deaf-Blindness project, a 1-year federally supported project in Louisiana to improve identification and curriculum for these children by providing technical assistance and training to parents, school systems, and agency personnel. Project activities…

A long-range school improvement program, under the direction of the Pennsylvania State Department of Education, was developed to coordinate and articulate the curriculum, as well as to structure school management and other district operations. Featured in the plan are: (1) a statewide testing program called "Educational Quality…

This manual presents a set of guidelines for persons working at a state level to increase the capacity of the state to plan, manage and deliver child and family services. Part I discusses barriers to change, and outlines the skills and attributes of the capacity builder. Part II briefly describes the actual capacity building process, including…

Activities of the Technology Access for Arkansans (TAARK) project have focused on: (1) identifying the need and quality of technology provisions in the state; (2) disseminating information about appropriate technology and funding; (3) educating Arkansans about technology and advocacy; (4) developing a coordinated state plan; and (5) providing…

Adolescent substance abuse is a leading problem in schools today. If prevention efforts by schools are to be effective, needs assessment and evaluation must be integral parts of the process. A comprehensive needs assessment of school substance abuse prevention programs in the western United States was conducted to: (1) describe the degree and…

This report presents an evaluation of the career education leadership activities conducted in Tennessee in 1979-80, the first year of operation for Tennessee's five-year State Plan for Career Education. Section 1 addresses the relationship between the activities in the State Plan and a state-wide needs assessment. Sections 2-7 focus on assessment…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a federally funded 3-year project in Delaware to improve programming and instructional/vocational opportunities available to students with deaf-blindness. The project expanded the capacity of the state-funded program for the deaf-blind to provide technical assistance and training for…

This is Volume II-A of a study to describe federally-subsidized state and county child day care management systems and to report how well the management systems work. Information is reported in terms of nine subsystems: (1) Needs Assessment, (2) Planning and Implementation, (3) Evaluation, (4) Information and Referral, (5) Client Eligibility, (6)…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Illinois state project on services for children with deaf-blindness, a 3-year federally supported project to address the needs of children (ages birth to 21) who are deaf-blind. Project activities included inservice training and technical assistance, development of a comprehensive…

This final report describes a 3-year project to provide services to all children (approximately 144) between 0-21 years with deaf blindness in Colorado. The project addressed seven areas: (1) information for identification, (2) technical assistance to develop services, (3) home-based services to infants and toddlers, (4) transition services, (5)…

Data on Idaho's limited-English-proficient (LEP) population and the educational services provided to them are reported, as required by federal regulation governing Elementary and Secondary Education Act TITLE VII grants. The first part summarizes the information gained from data collection in 54 school districts, focusing on size and…