The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evaluates research studies that look at the effectiveness of education programs, products, practices, and policies, which the WWC calls "interventions." Many studies of education interventions make claims about impacts on students' outcomes. Some studies have designs that enable readers to make causal…

Asking college students how much they have learned or grown is a common assessment practice in student affairs and elsewhere. Unfortunately, recent research suggests that these self-reported gains do a very poor job of measuring actual student learning and growth. This paper provides an overview of the psychological process of how students likely…

The Research to Practice (RTP) column in "The Journal of Continuing Higher Education" has recently focused on evaluation methods that continuing education (CE) units can utilize, reports on surveys of CE practitioners, and recommendations for research on dynamics that impact CE programs and the students enrolling in them. In this article, the…

Teacher evaluation has emerged as a major focus for reform at the highest levels of education policymaking, and for good reason. Most evaluations are based on scant evidence of actual effectiveness, produce inflated ratings, and provide teachers with little useful feedback. This paper offers policymakers and practitioners important "lessons…

Career development practitioners understand that the value of career and employment services extends beyond attachment to the labor market. However, "soft" outcomes such as increased self-efficacy and improved ability to manage transitions are difficult to measure. Convincing funders and policy makers of the significance of such outcomes…

This paper presents a framework that institutions of higher education can use to improve, revise and introduce comprehensive systems for the collection and dissemination of information on student learning outcomes. For faculty and institutional leaders grappling with the many issues and nuances inherent in assessing student learning, the framework…

Statistical neighbour models provide one method for benchmarking progress. For each local authority (LA), these models designate a number of other LAs deemed to have similar characteristics. These designated LAs are known as statistical neighbours. Any LA may compare its performance (as measured by various indicators) against its statistical…

The Parent Education Profile (PEP) is an instrument used by family literacy programs to rate parents' support for children's literacy development. This article uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine how the PEP constructs the ideal parent, the text's underlying assumptions about parenting and education, and its ideological effects. The…

This study hypothesized band performance as a three-level hierarchical judgment with a basic level defined by specific terms, an intermediate level comprising a small number of interrelated factors, and a top level characterized by one overarching higher order. Results clearly confirmed three primary factors but suggested further study. (MJP)

This handbook provides a practical model for developing and using a comprehensive faculty evaluating system that responds to the specific needs, concerns, and characteristics of the faculty and administration of an individual academic unit. It outlines an eight-step procedure that focuses on the determination of: (1) the faculty role model; (2)…

Reports on a study of the use of musical scores and rating scales by 80 pianists who listened to 21 trials of solo piano music. Found that the use of musical scores and rating scales did not improve interrater reliability. Discovered that the subjects were less consistent when evaluating slow musical pieces than faster pieces. (CFR)

Reports on a cross-sectional evaluation of content achievement among 71 college-level psychology majors. Finds introductory students scored higher in social psychology but experimental psychology scores improved among advanced students. Also finds psychology students scored better than management majors on a standardized reasoning test. (CFR)

In the bookmark standard-setting procedure, judges place "bookmarks" in a reordered test booklet containing items presented in order of increasing difficulty. Traditionally, the bookmark difficulty location (BDL) is on the trait continuum where, for dichotomous items, there is a two-thirds probability of a correct response and, for a score of "k"…

The completion of the first ten years of this journal is an occasion for review and reflection. The main issues that have been addressed over the ten years are summarized in four main sections: Purposes, International Trends, Quality Concerns and Assessment for Learning. Each of these illustrates the underlying significance of the themes of…

A study involved 20 teachers who volunteered to use the horizontal evaluation model. Described are three strong themes that emerged: (1) teachers altered their views about evaluation; (2) teachers challenged the prevailing school practice rationality; and (3) teachers took some modest steps toward changing school relations. (SI)