This paper compares and contrasts the program theory of the reenacted Supervision Act to the Supervision Act of 2003. We describe how the expectations about how schools should be inspected, the effect such inspections are expected to have, and how these effects should be realized have changed over the past years as a result of changing paradigms…

An abundance of comprehensive school reform (CSR) literature exists illustrating CSRs are effective in improving student outcomes. However, much of this research reports on top-down reforms, focuses on academic outcomes, and uses quantitative methods alone. Many educational researchers have argued for the use of mixed methods for providing a…

Describes the experience of an evaluation network being put into practice in Spain to encourage educational change. Outlines the most relevant conditions needed for educational change and develops the description of a school evaluation network that includes all the previously described conditions. (SLD)

Used multiple sources of data, including archival material, focus groups and questionnaires, to evaluate a renewal effort that involved a university school of education and human services and three diverse school systems: urban, suburban, and rural. Findings indicate the consistency of efforts to bring about positive change. Makes seven…

School-based evaluation, the focus of this article, is conceived of as neither a synonym for internal evaluation nor an antonym for external evaluation, but as a combination that is examined through a review of recent research. A school-based evaluation in Israel illustrates combining these approaches in a complementary way. (SLD)

This article reviews research to identify factors that seem to account for vocational education's limited impact on economic returns. Methods are suggested in which evaluation may direct vocational programs toward a synthesis of educational goals. Students' job skill development and intellectual growth should be the objectives of vocational…

A pilot project to integrate vocational and general education by developing and institutionalizing a new type of school as part of the higher secondary sector of the West Berlin educational system is described. The evaluation study and failure of the project are discussed. (DWH)

A study on the use of performance indicators within a quality assurance system in higher education in the Netherlands is reported. The case study of seven departments of economics shows the attention paid to structural aspects of the curriculum instead of the declared object of the program evaluation. (SLD)

It is difficult to base evaluations on concepts irrelevant to state policy making. Evaluation of a multiproject program requires both time and differentiation of method. Data from the California Early Childhood Program illustrate process variables for program component analysis, and research questions for intraprogram comparison. (CP)

The practice of institutional self-study in Nigeria is examined, and its potential for enhancing educational reforms is discussed. School self-evaluation is at present disappointingly poor in Nigeria. Systematic, planned, school-based evaluation studies should be incorporated into every educational reform effort in Nigeria to effectively monitor…

Early school leaving within the first five years of secondary education was studied in the Netherlands using a sample from the national Educational Priority Policy study. Over 5,000 students were selected initially. Some 4.7% appeared to have dropped out without the educational system's basic qualification by the fifth year for a variety of…

Changing views of models of evaluation are considered, with a review of models for program evaluation debated in the 1970s. The evaluation of a police probationer training program illustrates the relationship between the democratic evaluation advocated by B. MacDonald and action research. (SLD)