The authors of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" anticipated that a majority of school districts or schools would not be able to attain state and national achievement standards without assistance. Consequently, the Act created a major tenet known as Supplemental Educational Services (SES) programs to improve the learning outcomes of…

This document answers the question, "What has been learned about evaluation methodology from the decade of compensatory education"? Ten issues dealing with the evaluation of Title I were identified within a general theoretical framework of evaluation. For each issue it was the aim of this document to do the following: 1)to clarify the…

In 1988, Congress mandated a national longitudinal evaluation of the effects of the Title I program on students' academic achievement and classroom behavior. This paper presents an overview of the study design, analysis methods, and impact results for student achievement. The analysis used four types of designs to assess the impact of Title I: (1)…

Rigorous research provides information that will allow other schools and districts to select interventions that have a scientifically based track record of effectiveness. All Striving Reader grants include the mandate to evaluate literacy intervention(s) targeted to adolescents who are reading significantly below grade level. Although all studies…

The effects of using different data analysis methods on estimates of treatment effects of educational programs were investigated. Various regression models, such as those recommended for Title I program evaluations, were studied. The first effect studied was the amount of bias that might be expected to occur in the various settings. Results…

The equipercentile assumption states that students in traditional classrooms who receive no other instructional assistance, will maintain their relative rank order over time. To test this assumption, fall to fall test results on the SRA Achievement Tests were obtained for grades 2-3, and 6-7. Total reading and total mathematics growth scale values…

Meta-analysis of Title I program evaluations shows the norm-referenced model overestimates positive effectiveness; while the regression-discontinuity design underestimates it. Potential biases include residual regression artifacts, attrition and time-of-testing problems in the norm-referenced design, and assignment, measurement, and data…

The RMC Research Corporation evaluation model C1--the special regression model (SRM)--was evaluated through a series of computer simulations and compared with an alternative model, the norm referenced model (NRM). Using local data and national norm data to determine reasonable values for sample size and pretest posttest correlation parameters, the…

During 1967 and 1968, TEMPO, a Research affiliate of The General Electric Company, evaluated federal assistance to local school districts to use for compensatory education authorized by 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I. The specific research questions were straight-forward: (1) Has statistically significant enhancement of pupil…

This report begins by considering the design of compensatory education evaluations. A professional evaluation of Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I must make a precise accounting of the relations among expenditures, implementation, outcome and impact; measure effectiveness over a long enough term to determine if the benefit and gain last;…

Seven considerations in designing the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System are reviewed: satisfying state, local, and federal needs; summative evaluation; differences in Title I subprograms; local use of different achievement tests; comparative analysis data; use of approved evaluation designs; and use of a common reporting metric. (MH)

An empirical study was conducted in order to obtain treatment effect estimates with the Special Regression model for groups in which there was no treatment. General mathematics test scores were obtained from 730 ninth graders in city schools somewhat similar to Title I schools, but in which no special treatments were given. Hypothetical…

Threats to the validity of the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System are covered in two parts: an annotated bibliography of reports concerned with technical issues, and a discussion of threats to validity--from the reporting system in general and from each model in particular. Threats common to all three evaluation models are reported:…

A research strategy that the National Institute of Education (NIE) has adopted to obtain information about what Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is accomplishing toward achievement of two of its objectives is presented. These two objectives are to fund special services to low achieving students in the poorest schools and to…

The RMC Model A (norm-referenced) for evaluation of Title I programs is based upon the equipercentile assumption--that students maintain their percentile rank over a one-year period, provided that no special instrucional intervention is introduced. The control group, essentially the sample used to standardize the achievement test, represents the…