Across the country, educators, parents and students are saying that there is too much testing in our schools and that testing is taking valuable time away from teaching and learning. These concerns are legitimate and merit attention. School district officials have the opportunity to respond to concerns about over-testing by leading a conversation…

"Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts" (see ED603651) is a tool district leaders can use to take stock of their assessments and assessment strategy and do so from a student perspective. Achieve developed the "Student Assessment" to support a process by which districts evaluate the assessments students are taking;…

Using data strategically to guide decisions and actions can have a positive effect on education practices and processes. This facilitation guide shows education data teams how to move beyond simply reporting data to applying data to direct strategic action. Using guiding questions, suggested activities, and activity forms, this guide provides…

Students are people--not data. Assessment data can bury you or give you focused information on how to reach every student. "Putting Faces on the Data" shows how to develop a common language for sharing all students' progress with all teachers and leaders and how to use ongoing assessment to inform instruction. Based on worldwide research from more…

Written in a refreshing conversational style, this text thoroughly prepares students, program administrators, and new evaluators to conduct evaluations or to use them in their work. The book's question-driven focus and clear discussions about the importance of fostering evaluation use by building collaborative relationships with stakeholders set…

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…

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

This paper presents a plan of action for managing evaluation implementation and ensuring the ongoing utilization of evaluation results. It addresses strategies that are required to manage the problems encountered in a 10-step management plan. Focus is on introducing an evaluation monitoring system within organizations. Steps in the plan include:…

While there is a recognized need for new and better ways to train soldiers to fight, many training programs developed in response to this need are used poorly or not at all. In part, the failure to use these training programs stems from the lack of established procedures for monitoring implementation and evaluating use. Effective monitoring can…

This new edition offers an evaluation text that ranges from identifying the primary users of an evaluation to focusing the evaluation, making methods decisions, analyzing data, and presenting findings. Both practical and theoretical, the book tells how to conduct program evaluations and why they should be conducted in the manner prescribed. Each…

This book provides crucial information about selecting and administering outcome assessment measures, collecting and interpreting data, and using outcome information in practice. It provides the information mental health professionals need to practice knowledgeably, efficiently, and ethically in todays' behavioral health environment. The chapters…

Guidelines for developing an evaluation plan for a gifted education program include recognizing the reluctance to spend money on evaluation, identifying what should be evaluated, deciding when programs should be reevaluated, determining overall evaluation principles, creating the evaluation design, and designing the evaluation plan to fit a…

This article asks and answers the following three questions concerning curriculum evaluation: (1) why evaluate curricula; (2) if curriculum evaluation can be justified, then what are useful curriculum evaluation questions; and (3) given the constraints of time, money, and expertise, how can useful curriculum evaluation be conducted? (DCS)

How academic programs might go about making evaluation more useful, thus making critical reflection more likely, is the central purpose of this book. The chapters are: (1) "The Concept of Academic Quality"; (2) "Motivation for Quality Work"; (3) "Evaluating Quality in Academic Programs"; (4) "Creating the Engaged Department"; (5) "Negotiating…

This theme issue is an attempt to improve graphical production by evaluators. The graphs that are described are solutions to problems in communicating evaluation findings. Eleven chapters and a conclusion discuss common and recurring problems for graphs for discovery or presentation, and for evaluators or evaluation audiences. (SLD)