A grassroots committee of faculty and administrators from eight academic and student service units at the George Washington University used a five-phase process to identify the ePortfolio needs of its diverse community; select appropriate technologies to support the breadth of functions required; perform usability studies; pilot test the platform;…

Adoption of the edTPA as part of new teacher licensing and/or program approval requirements has created heated discussions among teacher educators. Among the discussion topics is the supposition that state-level bureaucrats have been the sole source of the decision to require the edTPA, with little input from the preparation programs. This article…

The FNS Research Corner provides a continuing series to summarize recently completed and current research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the area of child nutrition. Summaries of recently completed research projects and in-progress research are provided in this article.

Research indicates that parental involvement in children's education is positively related to academic achievement in mathematics; however, there are few studies on the role of parental involvement in the context of developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to document the iterative development using design-based research (DBR) of a…

This article describes lessons learned about implementing evaluations in hospital settings. In order to overcome the methodological dilemmas inherent in this environment, we used a practical participatory evaluation (P-PE) strategy to engage as many stakeholders as possible in the process of evaluating a clinical demonstration project.…

The Cooperative Extension System is at a crossroads regarding educational program delivery and clientele relationships in a digital age. To "help prepare counties for a future that demands increased use of technology for improving work efficiencies and expanding audience outreach," an assessment team was appointed to conduct a case study to…

The E-Learning Maturity Model (eMM) is a quality improvement framework designed to help institutional leaders assess their institution's e-learning maturity. This paper reviews the eMM, drawing on examples of assessments conducted in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the USA to show how it helps institutional leaders assess and compare their…

Open educational resources (OER) are gaining ascendancy in education, particularly in higher education. Logic suggests that the potential benefits of OER are likely to be greatest in resource-poor contexts such as Africa. However, little is known about the feasibility and sustainability of their use in African institutions. In the Health OER…

The purpose of this project was to determine the effectiveness of a pilot element of a statewide delivery system for career education as a method for preparing secondary teachers to be effective agents of world of work economic education information dissemination and attitudinal change. The primary objectives were: (1) To develop a pilot element…

Describes a Spanish language drug and substance abuse education program including development of a student activity book and instructor's manual and a usability evaluation. Traditional value gaming strategies were used. A pilot study in Mexico showed Spanish speaking agencies could use the program conducted by their own staff. (Author/JAC)

The emergence and purpose of formative evaluation as a tool for curriculum developers is described. It is pointed out that formative evaluation seeks to establish the merit of instructional materials during their development, to modify and improve the design of instructional materials, and to establish their worth so they may be adapted for use in…

We provide a commentary on the Parents Matter! intervention program. Our commentary is organized around core issues confronting those who design prevention programs, namely (1) making the program practical, feasible and economical, (2) reaching a broad base of target individuals, (3) making the intervention effective in changing the behavior or…

This report summarizes the results of a 22-month proof-of-concept demonstration of a class of interactive videodisc systems, which involved the use of an intelligent videodisc in developmental biology instruction at the undergraduate level. The study involved the development of hardware, software, courseware, and instructional strategies for…

Reports are given on activities of the Scottish Council for Research in Education. Included are the Chairman's Report and those of the Finance and General Purpose Committee, Communications Committee, and the Research Committee. Summaries are presented of research projects involving: (1) primary school teaching strategies; (2) students' awareness…

The literature on incentive early retirement for faculty members is reviewed, including the findings of studies that have assessed the effectiveness of such programs. In addition to describing different types of programs and the incentives offered, attention is directed to legal issues, costs and benefits, assessing whether a program is feasible,…