In 2010, as the result of a congressionally mandated study, the National Research Council (NRC) published the report "Preparing Teachers: Building Evidence for Sound Policy" (NRC, 2010). Reflecting the unprecedented attention to teacher quality that had emerged internationally in response to the exigencies of the "global knowledge…

Drawing upon a project on British transnational education (TNE) programmes offered in Hong Kong, this paper interrogates the capacity development impact of TNE on the students, the Hong Kong Government and the programme providers. It addresses the questions: "What capacity is being developed in TNE operations?" and "For whom?"…

The paper discusses the major issues connected with the accreditation procedures in higher education system in the U.S. The questions raised are as follows: what are the reliable and credible indicators of quality instruction that could be measured in the process of accreditation of higher education institutions? How does greater transparency in…

Emphasizes link between objectives and quantified outcomes of rural support programs. Synthesizes a hierarchy of objectives based on the state aims of the 40 public institutions active in rural areas in England and Wales and programs they operated in financial year 1987-88. Describes allocation of financial resources between various objectives,…

The central purpose of this paper is to describe the origins, assumptions, approaches, and problems of the major evaluation efforts relating to vocational education specified in the Educational Amendments of 1976. The first of five chapters provides background information on vocational education, evaluation, and the Education Amendments of 1976.…

This study investigates the impact of activities done in the basic education sub-sector by a consortium of four non-government organizations in four provinces in Afghanistan from January 2004 to June 2005. The evaluation uses the project objectives and components as the evaluation framework, and data collected through survey questionnaires,…

Views of five members of the evaluation community in Washington (D.C.) concerning the future of evaluation in the federal government are summarized. Evaluators include (1) E. Chelimsky; (2) M. F. Mangano; (3) J. S. Wholey; (4) R. C. Sonnichsen; and (5) C. Wye. (SLD)

This paper presents results from the first phase of a longitudinal study of the Australian Postgraduate Awards (Industry) Scheme, a recent government initiative under which graduate students receive grants to conduct projects for Masters or PhD degrees, supervised jointly by university and industry partners. The study involved national surveys of…

Current thinking about and operational examples of school-focused inservice teacher education are synthesized. The primary data sources for this report were the ideas and materials shared in case studies conducted in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The report begins by examining how several writers have contributed to…

Through a review of the literature, this paper describes current practices in compensatory reading programs, (particularly Title I and Chapter 1 programs), offers evidence on how such practices evolved, identifies program features that may be questionable, and suggests ways to redesign such programs to enhance their effectiveness. The first…

Research in bilingual education remains underdeveloped, and despite 20 years of classroom experience, curricular and methodological refinements, and gains in student achievement, there is continued skepticism about its effectiveness. Contends there has been overreliance on simplistic and ill-designed evaluation research and urges instead basic…

This report examines the following three aspects of Hispanic employment: (1) the consequences of leaving school without skills; (2) at-risk Hispanic youth as workers; and (3) the challenge of providing practical, rewarding jobs. Among the conclusions are the following: (1) several categories of at-risk Hispanic youth can receive long-range…

One of a series of technical papers prepared for the advisory panel of the Head Start Evaluation Design Project, this paper presents information about national Head Start goals, program participants, and the Head Start delivery system. The four stages of Head Start's evolution are described in terms of changes in the characteristics of…

This occasional paper consists of three essays devoted to evaluation, inquiry, and local planning in federal vocational legislation. In their paper entitled "Evaluation and Accountability in Federal Vocational Legislation," Jerome Moss, Jr. and George H. Copa propose a rationale and a set of recommendations for federal legislation dealing with…

Provides an overview of the current status and future directions of education for limited English proficient (LEP) elementary and secondary students in the United States, covering the estimated number of LEP students and teachers, government and legislative roles, school district services, teacher training programs, research, and program…