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In this chapter the authors portray the situation of the Roma population in Portugal as a changing picture. They present a description of the social situation and living conditions of the Roma people of Portugal through the systematisation of the main results obtained from research conducted recently as part of the ‘Strategy for the integration of Roma communities 2013–2020’ and give a detailed analysis of the educational dimension in various levels of education, highlighting a public policy created in 2016, the Operational Program for the Promotion of Education. This programme, inspired by a civil society project and converted into a public policy due to its innovative character, supports Roma students in higher education and is funded by the Office of the High Commissioner for Migration. The authors describe the Roma Communities in Portugal with special regard to their social situation, their culture and language. Then the authors present an analysis about the educational attainment of the Roma in Portugal and the most important policies and support programmes for Roma education, which are considered as the key to the social integration of Roma communities. Finally, they describe some successful programmes: the OPRE, RESCUR and Dreams Teens Programs.

This paper aims to review Program and Project evaluation Models. The assessment of the Evaluation Model (metaevaluation) is a critical step in Evaluation, as it is at the basis of a successful Program/Project evaluation. A wide and effective review of EMs is a basic, as well as fundamental, support in meta-evaluation that affects positively the overall evaluation efficacy and efficiency. Despite a large number of reviews of EMs and a numerous population of EMs, developed in heterogeneous projects and programs settings, the literature lacks comprehensive collections and reviews of EMs that this paper addresses to provide a basis for the assessment of EMs.

Through a systematic literature review carried out via the Internet, and querying search engines, several models addressing program or project evaluation have been identified and analyzed. Following a process of normalization of the results gathered, they have been analyzed and compared according to key descriptive issues. They have been, at the end, summarized and rationalized in a comprehensive frame.

In recent years, evaluation studies have focused on the explanation of the mechanisms that underlie the transformation of projects’ and programs’ outputs into socio-economic effects, arguing that making them explicit allows to understand why a project or program is successful, as well as evaluating its extent. To assess and explain program’s and project’s effects, a basic, although fundamental, role in evaluation is played by the EM. A wide and heterogeneous set of 57 EMs has been identified, defined and framed in typologies, according to a systematic review research.

The approach to the review of EMs and the definition of a boundary of interest for management and economic researchers and practitioners represent an original issue of this paper.

In this chapter, we dismantle the current educational rhetoric that pervasively characterizes Black children as being at-risk, deficient, or underachievers. Instead, we replace this deficit-oriented rhetoric with one that encapsulates the cultural and educational excellence that inspires Black children to reach their potential. First, we provide an overview of the current educational landscape for Black children and articulate by whom and how Black children are being educated. Next, we then define educational success and excellence within the context of an African-centric perspective of holistic development and wellness. Then, we highlight programs, schools, and approaches that have been successful in educating Black children. Finally, we identify key principles and guidelines in educating Black children that will have educational, research, and policy implications.

Family engagement is a central tenet of high-quality early education practice. However, the ways in which programs interact with families have varied significantly over time and in relationship to program type. This chapter extends traditional notions of family involvement by emphasizing the potential of early care and education programs to effectively support parents and other primary caregivers in enhancing daily interactions with their children. Specifically, home visits are described as an important mechanism to influence parent-child interaction particularly when intentional, evidence-based curricula are employed. In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on developing and implementing such home visiting models. In this chapter, we describe a specific example of the integration of the Promoting First Relationships (PFR) parent-child interaction curriculum (Kelly, Zuckerman, Sandoval, & Buehlman, 2008) into home visits in both home and center-based Early Head Start practice. Implementation aspects for enhancing existing family engagement strategies with an intentional home visiting curriculum are discussed with recommendations for future programming and research.

This paper discusses the findings of a mixed-methods study of early childhood instructional coaches employed in state-funded preschool (aged three and four years) programs in the state of New Jersey (NJ) in the United States (US), highlighting a case study of one coach that provides an example of individual and organizational factors influencing the work.

An online survey was distributed to all coaches (master teachers) in 35 districts' early childhood programs. Two master teachers were then studied for a period of five months. During that time, three structured interviews were conducted, focused observations occurred each month, and coach logs were collected.

The findings of the data analyses illuminated both individual (i.e., a coach's own professional development) and organizational (i.e., varying interpretations of role) factors that influenced the work of the early childhood coaches.

The data in this paper is limited to one US state's approach to early childhood coaching. The case study data examined is limited to the contexts of the specific participating districts and master teachers involved. It is suggested that future research be conducted on a nationwide pool of instructional coaches.

The findings of this study highlight the role of the state in providing more guidance surrounding the primary responsibilities of the master teacher. It is suggested that further attention be placed on creating and sustaining a professional development network for the master teachers serving NJ's early childhood programs.

As one of the few statewide studies of instructional coaching in early childhood, this study provides insights into how policy is translated into practice.

This paper examines the experiences of welfare clients on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Indian immigrant information technology (IT) workers on the H-1B visa to analyze how public–private collaborations in the spirit and practice of outsourcing, i.e. systematic fragmentation and decentralization of both corporate and state activities, function as mechanisms for disciplining labor. Through an analysis of these groups’ parallel experiences with exploitative work and employers in the U.S., this paper identifies how outsourcing is not merely a business model for cross-border trade, but also a key principle, component, and outcome of policy-based neo-liberal economic restructuring.

This study aims to examine the consequences of the last great recession on the child protection system (CPS) in Spain, to estimate whether there is any kind of relationship between the conditions of socio-economic crisis and its protective activity.

Data on child protection legal measures issued by the CPS and socio-economic data from 8 of the 17 regions of the country were cross-checked. Using the chi-square test, it was possible to determine the significance and intensity of the relationship between the different variables in each of the regions of the study.

During the crisis, the number of recorded cases fell most sharply in those regions with the worst socio-economic indicators. The study shows that there is a significant relationship between the socio-economic conditions of the regions and families and the activity of the CPS in each of them, so that the worsening of the former reduces the protective activity of their protection system.

The results ask about the influence of the socioeconomic situation in the decision-making of the CPS in Spain and the need to deepen in its study.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study on the effects of the economic crisis on CPS activity in Spain.

Often overlooked in discussions related to how to ensure accessible and affordable high-quality early childhood education is the heavy burden that has been carried by the early childhood workforce; the data reveal a level of exploitation of this workforce that must be considered and addressed. This chapter will focus attention on the economic realities of the early childhood workforce as a key element to achieve equitable access to affordable high-quality early childhood services.