The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was designed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to evaluate the quality, equity, and efficiency of school systems around the world. Specifically, the PISA has assessed 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy on a 3-year cycle, since…

What do the findings of four National Science Foundation evaluation case studies suggest to an evaluation scholar who was not part of the research team that created them? This chapter carefully reviews the cases and summarizes their comparative findings. The four Beyond Use case studies add to the literature on levels of evaluation use, with the…

The report, "Evaluation of the National Assessment of Educational Progress", provides a number of recommendations for addressing validity concerns about NAEP. This article identifies actions that could be taken by the Congress, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the National Assessment Governing Board--which share responsibility for…

University rankings are having a profound effect on both higher education systems and individual universities. In this paper we outline these effects, discuss the desirable characteristics of a good ranking methodology and document existing practice, with an emphasis on the two main international rankings (Shanghai Jiao Tong and THES-QS). We take…

This paper will compare the uses of selected formal and informal assessments of English language learners (ELLs) in the Language Experience class [TRANSLANGEXP7(&8)-008] at Kimball Middle School, Illinois School District U-46, Elgin, Illinois, during school year 2007- 2008. See figure 1 (page 14) for a graphic display of these assessments…

Two forms of naturalistic evaluation have appeared within the past decade: (1) a collection of qualitative techniques that are complimentary with conventional quantitative methods; and (2) an alternative paradigm that emphasizes the negotiation of multiple socially constructed realities, interdependence of facts and values, and the emergent…

This booklet examines performance-based education accountability systems in the United States. It defines the four components of these accountability systems--standards and assessments, multiple indicators, rewards, and sanctions--and discusses which ones are found in each state and whether or not they appear in law or regulation. All four…

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other Group of Eight (G-8) countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. The report draws on the most current information about education from three primary sources: the Indicators of…