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The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program is a residential, quasi-military program for youth ages 16 to 18 who are experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. The program provides classroom instruction and other structured activities to young people at 40 different sites. The focus of this report is on determining how sites can measure their progress at meeting their overall mission ("to intervene in and reclaim the lives of 16- to 18-year-old high school dropouts, producing program graduates with the values, life skills, education, and self-discipline necessary to succeed as productive citizens"). The report summarizes and documents findings and recommendations from analyses carried out between 2016 and 2020. Sources of data include information gathered during visits to each site, as well as site- and individual-level information gathered yearly over four years. Extant data sets and information from the existing literature are also used as appropriate.

In 2003, the State of Qatar engaged the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute to assist Qatar University, the nation's first and only public higher education institution, with reform of its major administrative and academic structures, policies, and practices. This monograph summarizes that reform effort, which formally lasted from October 2003 through January 2007. The authors recount the motivation for reform, describe the design of the reform agenda, and detail the early stages of the implementation effort. They conclude with a reflection on the reform strategy, including the key elements that made the reform possible, the difficult choices that reform leaders had to make, and the challenges that lie ahead for the reformed Qatar University. Five appendices are included: (1) Senior Reform Committee Members; (2) Qatar University's Vision and Mission Statements; (3) Conceptual Framework for the Qatar University Reform Project; (4) An Exercise in Decentralized Planning and Decisionmaking: Developing a University-Wide Academic Plan; and (5) Improving Faculty Development and Accountability: The Faculty Performance Appraisal System. (Contains 7 figures, 6 tables and 33 footnotes.) [This report was written with Mohammed Al Hamadi and Sheikha Jabor Al Thani.]

This report documents the results of a survey of 1,137 active-duty military families, including activated Reservists, regarding child care use. These survey data were analyzed to estimate the relationship between individual family characteristics and installation characteristics and the probability that the family uses any nonparental child care, uses DoD-sponsored child care, has unmet need for child care, and has undermet need for child care. Through this analysis, the reader develops a richer understanding of the extent to which DoD is meeting the need for child care among military families. This report will be of interest to officials responsible for DoD child-care policy and other quality of life issues. It should also be of interest to child care managers in other federal organizations, child care researchers, and child care policymakers at the national, state, and local levels who grapple with the issue of estimating the need for child care. Appended are: (1) Focus Group Summary; (2) Survey Nonresponse Analysis; and (3) Child-Care Survey Instrument. (Contains 15 tables.) ["Examining Child Care Need among Military Families. Technical Report" was written with Marika Suttorp.]

The Department of Defense (DoD) is committed to meeting the need for child care among military families. DoD supports the largest employer-sponsored system of high-quality child care in the country. Through accredited child development centers (CDCs), family child care (FCC) homes, youth centers, and other after-school programs, DoD currently provides approximately 176,000 child-care spaces for military children 0-12 years old and plans to expand this capacity to 215,412 spaces by fiscal year 2007. To estimate the magnitude of child-care need among military service personnel, DoD uses a formula incorporating installation-level and other demographic data, including a combination of national and military statistical trends. Because the formula is based solely on demographic data, DoD was concerned that the formula might not be addressing all relevant aspects of child-care need. This monograph, the sixth in a series of RAND reports on military child care, is intended to provide DoD policymakers and managers of the military child-care system with information on the validity of the DoD formula, to improve the understanding of the factors that influence key child-care outcomes, and to address the broader issue of how DoD might refine its goals for military child care. Appended are: (1) Components of the Child-Care Need Formula: DoD and the Military Services; and (2) Military Child Care Survey. (Contains 3 figures, 18 tables, and 8 footnotes.) [The research described in this report was prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The research was conducted in the RAND National Defense Research Institute.]

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) established the DoD Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development. Although achieving its mission requires that the chancellor's office influence the education and professional development providers' behavior, its charter grants it very limited formal authority to exercise such influence. A project was therefore undertaken to give the chancellor's office a clear sense of its available options in pursuing its mission. Research and theories from social psychology, organizational behavior, and sociology were drawn upon to develop a framework for strategic assessment and development of power and influence that includes the following stages: (1) power assessment; (2) power development; and (3) development of influence. The newly developed power assessment process involves consideration of the following key factors: (1) the influencer's objective; (2) relevant characteristics of the target organization and its members; (3) the influencer's power bases and capabilities as an organization and as a collection of individuals; (4) features of the relationship between the influencing organization and its target; and (5) the environment in which the organizations interact. After assessing its potential power, the influencer can evaluate whether its current power bases are sufficient and the extent to which it has been capitalizing on them. (A literature review is appended. The bibliography lists 48 references.) (MN)

A study was conducted to develop tools for describing and evaluating external governance in the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD's) multiorganizational system of education, training, and professional development. An exploratory conceptual framework and taxonomy for understanding external governance in the DoD context was developed, and the following criteria were used to assess the effectiveness of DoD's external governance: (1) evidence that system outcomes are being defined, measured, and evaluated relative to goals; (2) evidence that providers, intermediaries, and key stakeholders are communicating frequently and transparently; (3) evidence that providers and intermediaries are responsive to key stakeholder guidance; and (4) evidence that key stakeholders are being satisfied. The following recommendations were made to DoD: (1) advocate and facilitate system-level and demand-side governance on the part of key stakeholders within the system; (2) encourage all key stakeholders to undertake a structural analysis of governance as part of their own strategic planning function; (3) engage in system-specific development and pilot testing before performing an implementation audit of governance; (4) perform implementation audits on a case-by-case basis for major subsystems or key stakeholders that have salient problems with responsiveness and effectiveness; and (5) establish a center for development and retention of governance knowledge and evaluation capacity. (Contains 52 references.) (MN)

The Office of the Secretary of Defense supports a vast and complicated system of education and professional development for civilians. The RAND study team from the National Defense Research Institute conducted a broad review of the literature on educational assessment and reviewed the documents of organizations engaged in such assessment, interviewed experts, attended conferences, and conducted site visits to exemplary organizations. This report synthesizes the information from the study and suggests educational and professional development approaches the DoD might use to raise the quality and productivity of the education the Department provides for civilians it trains. The study identified the need for system level assessment and classified approaches into four basic models: (1) use of an intermediary to review the process individual providers use; (2) assessment by an intermediary organization; (3) assessment by the individual providers; and (4) a focus on the certification of student competencies. Models 1, 2, and 3 appear most relevant for the DoD Chancellor's Office, but regardless of the model selected, any assessment must identify the goals of the education activities, measure the outcomes related to these goals, and evaluate whether the outcomes meet the goals. Eleven appendixes contain supplemental information about DoD training programs and assessment approaches of other agencies. (Contains 6 figures, 26 tables, and 248 references.) (SLD)

Although Qatar has improved its post-secondary educational opportunities, the country's efforts have not undergone a broad strategic review. This study analyzed the extent to which the current offerings can meet the country's future needs and identified priorities for developing further educational options. Researchers found that Qataris' current educational and employment choices do not fully align with labor demand and that the current educational options do not cover all needed skills. They recommend several options to address the gaps in Qatar's post-secondary educational offerings. [This research brief describes work documented in "Post-Secondary Education in Qatar: Employer Demand, Student Choice, and Options for Policy," by Cathleen Stasz, Eric R. Eide, and Francisco Martorell, 2007 (ED501591).]