Background: Rapid reviews involve a streamlined approach to knowledge synthesis. They are used to identify high-quality evidence for the purpose of informing decisions and initiatives, completed over relatively short timeframes, and have been found to reach conclusions that do not differ extensively from full systematic reviews. Although common in…

When facilitating large-scale instructional change, leaders face stakeholder tensions that arise from different institutional pressures. Over the past 4 years, we have created an innovative "live" case competition in a strategic management course as our college's signature undergraduate experiential learning opportunity. This case has…

Theory and practice are integrated in the human brain. Situation recognition and response are key to this integration. Scholars of decision making and expertise have found that people with great expertise are more adept at situational recognition and intentional about their decision-making processes. Several interdisciplinary fields of inquiry…

In education, data-driven decision making is a buzz word that has come to mean collecting absolutely as much data as possible on everything from attendance to zero tolerance, and then having absolutely no idea what to do with it. Most educational organizations with a plethora of data usually call in a data miner, or evaluator, to make some sense…

Evaluators face challenges when programs consistently fail to meet expectations for performance or improvement and consequently, evaluators may recommend that closing a program is the most prudent course of action. However, the evaluation literature provides little guidance regarding when an evaluator might recommend program closure. Given…

Assessments of studies meant to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, programs, and policies can serve an important role in the interpretation of research results. However, evidence suggests that available quality assessment tools have poor measurement characteristics and can lead to opposing conclusions when applied to the same body of…

A district evaluator in a large Texas district examines new challenges arising since implementation of No Child Left Behind, relating to (1) navigating competing requirements in state and federal accountability systems; (2) evaluating effectiveness of sanctions districts are required to address; (3) using scientifically based research (SBR) to…

Evaluators sometimes wish for a Fairy Godmother who would make decision makers pay attention to evaluation findings when choosing programs to implement. The U.S. Department of Education came close to creating such a Fairy Godmother when it required school districts to choose drug abuse prevention programs only if their effectiveness was supported…

Policy Goal Percentaging Analysis is a microcomputer program which can perform a variety of useful decision-making analyses. The components of the program, its applications, and limitations are examined. The program is related to the field of multicriteria decision-making and is most useful to program evaluators. (DWH)

This paper discusses two models that hold promise for helping evaluators understand and cope with different decision contexts: (1) the conflict Model (Janis and Mann, 1977) and the Social Process Model (Vroom and Yago, 1974). Implications and guidelines for using decisionmaking models in evaluation settings are presented. (BS)

Educators, practitioners, and policy makers have long debated the impact of the results of evaluation studies on educational practice. If evaluation is to influence practice, the communication gap between researchers and decision makers must be reduced or eliminated. In order to close this gap, evaluators must become educators, working with a…

The manner in which results and methods are reported influences the ability of the synthesis of prior studies for planning new evaluations. Confidence ratings, coding conventions, and supplemental evidence can partially overcome the difficulties. Planners must acknowledge the influence of their own judgement in using prior research. (Author)

Schools are currently receiving increased funds for multimedia software for classrooms. There is a need for good software in the schools, and there is a need to know how to evaluate software and not naively rely on advertisements. Evaluators of multimedia software for education must have the skills to critically evaluate and make decisions not…

Evaluation must take into account both executive and legislative politics and their interactions. A five-part continuum evaluation process is suggested for the development of a policy question and its translation into knowledge that is credible, timely, responsive, and usable. Evaluators have a major responsibility in this process. (Author/JAZ)

A model for the evaluator-policy maker relationship is presented for use by those responsible for conducting program evaluations which ultimately affect policy decisions. In this collegial model, power is invested equally in relevant research and program personnel. Characteristics of the model are described in terms of: (1) early contact with the…