Educational technology products offer potentially effective means of supporting teaching and learning in K-12 classrooms. But for any given instructional need, there are likely to be numerous product options available for purchasing. What can school districts do to help ensure that good selections are made? In a recent, comprehensive study of…

This guide is addressed to policy officials, program providers, and researchers who are seeking to: (1) identify and implement social programs backed by valid evidence of effectiveness; or (2) sponsor or conduct an evaluation to determine whether a program is effective. The guide provides a brief overview of which studies can produce valid…

This timely book takes up the challenge of maintaining programs in the arts in the face of unrelenting pressure from two directions; the increasing focus on literacy and numeracy in schools, teamed with the cut-backs in public funding that often affect the arts most severely. Drawing on the wealth of evidence already available on the impact of the…

"Why Rural Matters 2011-12" is the sixth in a series of biennial reports analyzing the contexts and conditions of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the need for policymakers to address rural education issues in their respective states. While it is the sixth in a series, this report is not simply an…

This guide is designed to help districts and schools evaluate reform efforts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including School Improvement Grants. It includes practical, how-to tips for conducting program evaluations, whether one takes a "do-it-yourself" approach or seeks outside assistance to evaluate reform…

This research brief examines the challenges and opportunities presented in evaluating whether an intervention achieves defined goals of increasing students' educational attainment, employment, and earnings after high school. The report concludes that evaluations should: (1) Distinguish between gross outcomes (such as how many young people attend…

This report examines a Massachusetts pilot program for quarterly benchmark exams in middle-school mathematics, finding that program schools do not show greater gains in student achievement after a year. But that finding might reflect limited data rather than ineffective benchmark assessments. Benchmark assessments are used in many districts…

In 1985 the Arizona Legislature established a 5-year Career Ladder Program for teachers. The purpose of the pilot is to determine if student academic achievement is enhanced through recognizing and developing high levels of teacher performance and through a "promotion system based on comptence". The overall research and evaluation…

This paper examines how controlling statistically for baseline covariates (especially pretests) improves the precision of studies that randomize schools to measure the impacts of educational interventions on student achievement. Part I of the paper introduces the concepts, issues, and options involved. Parts II and III present empirical findings…

Quality measures were originally developed for research aimed at describing the settings that children spend time in and identifying the characteristics of these environments that contribute to children's development. They were also developed to guide improvements in practice. Increasingly, however, measures of quality are being used for further…

This feasibility study contains a design for evaluating vocational education research and development (R & D). The study developed a model for evaluating vocational education R & D based on legislative frames of reference for research, exemplary projects, and curriculum development. Called an Impact Tracer Model, the program is based on…

The National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) was appointed in 2002 and carried out its work under the auspices of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL). NELP's primary goal was to identify interventions, parenting activities, and instructional practices that promote the development of children's early literacy skills. The National Institute…

A "meta-assessment" was done of 13 pilot projects on student outcomes assessment in a variety of disciplines at 11 campuses in the California State University (CSU) system. These projects had developed both quantitative and qualitative strategies for collecting data on student learning outcomes. The meta-assessment was designed to…

This, the first biennial report to Congress by the Director, as required under The Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA), describes three goals that have guided the work of the Institute and provides an overview of progress through the end of 2004. It describes the major projects carried out within each center of the Institute over the past two…

This report describes the methodology used in an evaluation study to measure the effectiveness of the West End Special Education Local Plan Area's program for improving the transition of special needs students from secondary school into adult life. Goals of the San Bernardino, California, study included measuring students' quality of life upon…