The report of the national response to intervention (RTI) evaluation study, conducted during 2011-2012, was released in November 2015. Anyone who has read the lengthy report can attest to its complexity and the design used in the study. Both these factors can influence the interpretation of the results from this evaluation. In this commentary, we…

This article describes the design and evaluation approaches to address the complexity posed by systems change initiatives. The role of evaluations in addressing the following issues is briefly reviewed: moving from strategic planning to implementation, impacts on system-level coordination, anticipated timeline of impact, and individual level…

This article explores the applicability of interdisciplinary research on the implementation of technological innovations to the field of e-learning research. Arguing that there are important ways in which e-learning systems can be treated as "technological innovations," this article presents a review of several key theoretical and research design…

Investigated is the topic of research implementation and how it can affect evaluation results. Even when evaluations are well planned, the obtained results can be misleading if the conscientiously-constructed research plan is not correctly implemented in practice. In virtually every research arena, one finds major difficulties in implementing the…

Analysis of the assumptions underlying the stakeholder approach to evaluation combined with the limited experience in testing the approach reported in this volume, suggests that some claims are cogent and others problematical. (Author)

Besides identifying current problems in educational change research, this document describes the inadequate paradigm on which past research has been based and outlines a currently emerging paradigm of educational innovation. The author asserts that previous research findings have been inconsistent and not comparable. Basic to the research problems…

In reexamining the implementation results from a true experiment in criminal justice, this analysis brackets true treatment effects by partitioning experimental and control groups into treated and untreated subgroups and by combining two independent data sources. A positive association was found between magnitude of experimental treatment…

The authors respond to criticism and analyses by Eva Rezmovic (TM 507 851) of their experimental design, particularly the suggested use of information on the amount of program service received by the control group comparable to the treatment group in their study of the relationship between program implementation levels and program outcomes. (CM)

This report explores the field research experience of the Documentation and Technical Assistance Project, an activity of the Center for New Schools in Chicago, Illinois. Using ethnography as a major research tool, DTA studied nine school sites, documented information on how the schools solved problems to bring about school improvement; and…

The site variability issue for Direct Instruction Follow Through sites is examined from a variety of perspectives--meta-analysis of the Abt Associates' data, norm-referenced comparisons, and a longitudinal look at stability of effects. Much of the seemingly unexplained variability found in both the Abt report and the reports by M. Kennedy and E.…

Many difficulties are encountered when large-scale monitoring of federally-funded programs (including Title VII bilingual education programs) has been attempted. These difficulties may be categorized as follows: (1) differences in perception of the purpose of monitoring; (2) variance in the definition of the treatment (program) and expectations…

The culmination of many years of implementing and analyzing the Bank Street model in Project Follow Through, this paper provides an extensive discussion of controversial and problematic issues related to the program and reviews what has been learned at Bank Street as a result of experience with Follow Through. Recommendations for program…

After a brief introduction indicating the value of the first Follow Through evaluation, this document offers ideas about how a new wave of Follow Through approaches should be evaluated. The discussion is based on the premise that the form of an evaluation must be derived from the questions for which answers are sought, the audience(s) to whom the…

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984 mandates that the U.S. Department of Education conduct a National Assessment of Vocational Education. The National Assessment, designed following staff research and the input of experts who met in Washington, D.C. in September 1986, will focus on five broad areas: implementation of the Perkins…