Using examples from an evaluation design of a bilingual preschool program, the authors have developed a paradigm resting on contextually based evaluation and involving implementation strategies and participant researchers. Multiple methods of gathering environment-specific data are used in the process. (MH)

Developed an empirical strategy for studying broad-based educational change using quantitative methods and an extensive database consisting of state policy indicators and data on schools and classrooms from states participating in the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Results of a Rasch analysis indicate that patterns of state policy…

Findings of the California Learning Assessment System 1993 Opportunity-To-Learn study support the conclusion that curriculum and instruction that require higher-level skills benefit students' achievements. Data used are the best available measures of California students' learning of higher-level skills. (SLD)

When New Jersey passed the Quality Education Act to equalize expenditures between rich and poor school districts, it increased regulatory oversight for its 30 poorest districts. The oversight system, the burdens it created for districts, and the political control are described. The new system is evaluated as moderately effective. (SLD)

Drawing on British data, this article discusses issues involved in analyzing educational indicator data. Gross productivity, new productivity, and inequality are discussed as types of indicators that describe interdistrict variation in Great Britain. Recommendations are made regarding features of an educational assessment that would be necessary…

Explores four aspects of the economic analysis of education. First is changing the concern with observed performance and student outcomes, and second is the potential for experimentation to add to knowledge. Other concerns addressed include the study of the incentive structure in schools and the tendency of analysis to be linked with expectations.…

This is an introduction to a set of four papers in the field of evaluation research. A main theme in these papers is the recognition that evaluation research is not a pure objective scientific self-standing activity, but one that interacts within a context and is influenced by the interchanges. (LMO)

ifferent evaluation models were applied to data from a high school career education program to investigate problems in statistical conclusion validity and program effectiveness judgments. If potential threats to internal validity are analyzed and protection strategies are developed, more confidence in unplanned ex post facto design using a…

Conclusion about site-specific determinants of educational outcomes of the controversial longitudinal evaluation of the Follow Through programs (1976) are challenged again by reexamining the Direct Instruction model data. Reanalysis confirms earlier critiques and supports more recent research funding on the relationship between types of…

Graduates of a master's degree program for training reading specialists responded to a questionnaire concerning need for and competence in 40 teaching skills. Self-report data differentiated the competency training group (CTG) graduates (1973) from the conventionally trained group (1970), with the CTG clearly superior in their self-estimates of…

The evaluation of the reading programs in the Eugene, Oregon, public schools is described. Emphasis is placed on the eclectic approach to reading in the district prior to the evaluation and on the effect of using staff members as evaluators in their own district. (CTM)

To determine the criterion-related validity of the Dade County (Florida) Management Assessment Center for the selection of school-level administrators, ratings of 121 school principals, assistant principals, and candidates were correlated with subsequent job performance ratings. The center predicted job performance to a significant degree. (SLD)

An intergovernment program implementation framework is shown to be strongly affected by the way federal expectations and administrative actions interact with the state and local education agency programs. They can influence the components of categories of implementation factors, process variables, and the agency role orientations. (CM)

Evaluation studies are discussed in terms of aesthetic and literary qualities. Concepts such as imagery, coherence, credibility, dramatic structure, mode of presentation, and story line, are analyzed in relation to evaluative documents. (MH)

An interview with Michael Scriven describes his thoughts and contributions to educational evaluation, the evolution of his career, and his current concerns and projects. (MH)