As frequent consumers and disseminators of research, school psychologists have an ethical obligation to critically evaluate the findings of studies (National Association of School Psychologists, 2010); however, this can feel burdensome when studies are behind paywalls and require hours to properly scrutinize. Particularly when studies utilizing…

Head Start has long focused on assessing and improving program quality to ensure that the children served receive the best possible preparation for school and life. Most research has been focused inside the classroom--the classroom environment, teacher qualifications, and teacher interactions. Of course, the classroom is important because that is…

Children classified as emotionally disturbed constitute a most challenging and expensive population in the public schools. This article presents a tri-part model of barriers to program design, implementation, and evaluation for children classified as emotionally disturbed in public school settings. An examination of the available school-based…

This article is designed to help textbook selection committees and personnel make better choices of instructional materials. It outlines the types of information selectors will need about their own districts' curriculum and characteristics and presents a chart for design analysis of this data which can be used in textbook evaluation. (SJL)

Describes elements to look for when reading four identifiable sections of a research report: background and literature review, methodology and procedures, analysis, findings or summary. Literature review as prologue to author's argument, choices in design of a study, research participants, choices involved in analysis, and implications of findings…

Describes a process for evaluating career education activities. Discusses the selection of the evaluation sample, selection and development of instruments, data reduction and analysis, comparison standards, and preparation of an evaluation handbook. (JOW)

Action research is, quite often, the method of enquiry employed by undergraduate and postgraduate students in higher education who are studying for accredited courses. In recent years, students studying for taught doctorate (EdD) degrees with their focus on practical aspects of education are also adopting action research as a method of study. This…

This article presents the criteria developed by the American Institutes for Research to select evaluated exemplary career education projects across the nation for submission to the Joint Dissemination and Review Panel (JDRP) of the Office of Education (USOE) and the National Institute of Education (NIE). (Author)

Provides a detailed guide to preparing library budgets and describes several types of budgets. Steps to preparing a final document are outlined, including identifying objectives, assessing and prioritizing needs, data collection and analysis, presentation to the funding agency, and evaluation and monitoring of the final budget. (CLB)

Guidelines for conducting departmental reviews are presented to help review panels, departments being reviewed, and administrators. In planning a review, the following considerations are important: the purpose of the review and the terms of reference, the organization of the review and who will conduct it, and the information that will be…

This paper, which is intended to assist adult literacy practitioners interested in conducting research about their programs, discusses the four stages of the action research process: identifying questions to guide the research, collecting information to answer the questions, analyzing the information collected, and sharing the results with others.…

This guide, which was adapted from a 1987 evaluation guide for bilingual vocational training, is intended for directors, staff, and evaluators of local adult and vocational education programs. It presents an overall framework that program staff and evaluators can use to help establish the scope of their evaluations and meet their local evaluation…

Cost analysis makes it possible to establish how much things costs, set budgets, determine prices, and compare the costs of different options. In distance education (DE), the main areas of cost analysis are as follows: print-based correspondence systems; educational/institutional television and radio systems; multimedia systems, and e-education…

This booklet is designed to assist beginning and experienced teachers in public and private vocational education programs in evaluating the performance of present and past students as a means of gaining insight into the effectiveness of vocational programming and instruction. Discussed first are issues and procedures involved in process and…

This handbook is designed to guide teachers, administrators, supervisors, inservice coordinators, and teacher educators in conducting time-use analyses. Discussed in the first two chapters of the guide are key concepts and definitions pertaining to time-use analysis and highlights of research dealing with time use in education. The remaining three…