Biodiversity Education Initiative for Middle School Students

This report, prepared for the Smithsonian Institution\u27s Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program, details the research done to determine the current world state of biodiversity education and the best possible methods and format for a biodiversity education program targeted at middle school students. Within the report is an explanation of the purpose, need, goals, methods, execution, results, and recommendations of this project

Evaluation Design and Technical Assistance Opportunities: Early Findings From the Beacon Community Program Evaluation Teams

Examines study designs, evaluation approaches, outcome measures, data sources, challenges, and technical assistance needs among sites in a project under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to strengthen health information technology capabilities

Reviews

Martin Oliver (ed.), Innovation in the Evaluation of Learning Technology, London: University of North London, 1998. ISBN: 1–85377–256–9. Softback, 242 pages, £15.00

Developing A Theory of Change

This is a best practice to obtain clarity about what needs to happen to achieve and sustain the changes, or outcomes, that want to be seen (mapping the outcome pathways to success) and to identify who (people or institutions) can influence these outcomes positively or negatively (mapping the activity ecosystem). It sets the framework for identifying impact, intermediary outcome and process indicators

Every Child, Every School: Lessons from Chicago's Partnership for Instructional Leadership

Too many students in Chicago Public Schools are performing below -- often far below -- grade level. Ideally, all students should be increasing their subject matter knowledge and critical thinking skills over time. In September 2008 a three-year initiative, the Partnership for Instructional Leadership, was created to help a group of neighborhood elementary schools in Chicago Public Schools Area 4, on the city's Northwest Side, build the internal capacity to improve school achievement for all students at all grade levels, including Pre-K and English Language Learners.**Over the course of three years, the Partnership was implemented in 11 elementary schools -- six for the full three years with five more schools joining in the third year. This report summarized significant outcomes and learnings from the Partnership experience

Overcoming Financial Barriers to Expanding High-Quality Early Care and Education in Southeastern Pennsylvania

High-quality early care and education (ECE) programs have been proven to create positive outcomes for children -- especially among those living in poverty. Yet many children from low-income families have a hard time accessing high-quality child care and miss the critical developmental growth and foundation needed for academic and life success. Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) released a new report that examines the financial challenges program providers face, and offers recommendations about actions to increase access to quality care. The report is based on NFF's work with more than 147 nonprofit child care centers in Southeastern Pennsylvania

CO-TEACHING FOR INCLUSION IN A SUBURBAN MIDDLE SCHOOL:A SOCIO-TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE

A study occurred of the implementation of a regular education and special education co-teaching model in a suburban middle school to determine the changes in the school system's socio-technical subsystems. The Socio-Technical Theory describes the complex relationships between people, tasks and technology (Cooper, Gencturk & Lindley, 1996). The subsystems within this theory consist of a human subsystem, a technical subsystem, a structural subsystem, and a task subsystem. Owens and Steinhoff (1976) believe that these four subsystems are critical elements to be dealt with when initiating change or implementing an innovation in an organization. A three-year study took place to examine the human, task, structural and technical subsystem variables that affected the implementation of co-teaching. The study happened during the redefining/restructuring stage of implementation. I used case study methodology including semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, observations and document analysis. The results of the study discovered that implementing co-teaching in a school district created changes in all four subsystems. Changes in the human subsystem included the need for a shared philosophy of co-teaching between the co-teaching pairs, consistent co-teaching pairs from year to year, and the desire to hire one additional special education teacher. Changes in this subsystem had the most significant impact on the relationship between the co-teachers. Changes in the technical subsystem included the need for special education teachers to increase their knowledge in the subject area, professional development that put more of an emphasis on how to utilize common plan time and to differentiate instruction for students with disabilities, and the need for teachers to incorporate the various co-teaching models into daily lessons more effectively. Changes in the structural subsystem included common plan time, shared responsibility between co-teachers in the planning and delivery of instruction, and consistent pairing of co-teachers. Finally, changes that occurred in the task subsystem included relative advantage, which Rogers (2003) defines as the degree to which the innovation is perceived as being better than the idea it supersedes. The data analysis showed an increase in the clerical and day-to-day responsibilities for the special education teachers, and a decrease in these same responsibilities for the regular education teachers.School administrators would benefit from understanding that implementation of co-teaching can be a complex series of stages and proper planning and preparation must occur for implementation to be successful. Particularly, school administrators should provide meaningful professional development for both administrators and teachers. Additionally, the master schedule must be designed to reflect common plan time for teachers and co-teaching pairs should be consistent from year to year. All teachers should share a common philosophy regarding co-teaching in order to provide a solid co-teaching experience. Analysis of data revealed that these factors related to the findings of several researchers and were the same factors identified from the four socio-technical subsystems. School Administrators would benefit from using The Socio-Technical Theory when implementing an initiative. They should pay particular attention to specific factors from each of the subsystems that could have an affect on the overall success of the initiative prior to implementation

Improving Teen Engagement in Buffalo and Erie County

Erie County offers many opportunities for teen engagement through afterschool programs, summer jobs programs, and internships. National research reveals many benefits from these programs, such as improved academic achievement, better health outcomes, and reductions in violence. Participation, however, often drops significantly after youth enter high school. A better understanding of adolescent development and youth engagement strategies, ranging from active participation to shared leadership, will draw more teens into programs and maximize their impact

Increasing Opportunities for Older Youth in After-School Programs

Few after-school programs have developed strategies for attracting large numbers of teens, especially older and harder-to-serve youth. In response to this need, Madison Square Boys & Girls Club in New York City and Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston participated in a three-year initiative to enhance services to underserved teens. This report documents the successes and challenges the Clubs experienced as the initiative unfolded. They recruited large numbers of teens, involved them in a variety of activities, and provided them with emotional support, leadership opportunities, and programming in two critical areas: academics and job training