Comparison of student test scores between states, school districts, and even schools continues to be a popular measure of student achievement. However, these comparisons reveal little about the quality or effectiveness of educational programs, only the varying difficulty of educating different populations of students. This report uses U.S. Census…

This paper deals with two fundamental problems that are embedded in the evaluation of school practices: (1) attributing value to outcome measures, and (2) attributing outcomes to particular practices. Ways of generating evidence regarding the value of an outcome are discussed, particularly longitudinal research that clarifies the causal relations…

Clarifies a general approach to understanding teaching effectiveness research, outlines the requirements of the kind of research that is believed likely to result in verified generalizations about the primary dimensions along which effective and ineffective teachers vary, and provides an example of the kind of research it is believed is needed.…

This evaluative research is concerned with specific educational programs which attempt to adapt instruction to individual differences. Attention is limited to the Frick School, a large urban Pittsburgh school in which the Learning Research and Development Center develops its new educational programs, and to the Follow-Through network where these…

This report presents a detailed rationale and a plan for a study of the effectiveness of materials and procedures for meeting the educational needs of individual children in compensatory education programs. An introductory section addresses an overview of the policy questions to which the results of the individualized instruction study will be…