Work-experience programs, which are commonplace in most Canadian high schools, are designed to enhance learning for students while providing them with the opportunity to explore their career options. Current research on the effectiveness of such programs suggests that they have a number of important benefits, from improved self-esteem to increased…

Performance-based accountability along with budget tightening has increased pressure on publicly funded organizations to develop and deliver programs that produce meaningful social benefits. As a result, there is increasing need to undertake formative evaluations that estimate preliminary program outcomes and identify promising program components…

Teacher evaluation has emerged as a major focus for reform at the highest levels of education policymaking, and for good reason. Most evaluations are based on scant evidence of actual effectiveness, produce inflated ratings, and provide teachers with little useful feedback. This paper offers policymakers and practitioners important "lessons…

This is the fourth report of a process evaluation of Palm Beach County Prime Time, Inc., an intermediary organization dedicated to improving the quality of afterschool programs, by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. It covers the 2007-2008 program year, which was the inaugural year of Prime Time's formal Quality Improvement System (QIS)…

This report covers the third year of Chapin Hall's process evaluation of the Prime Time Initiative of Palm Beach County, Florida, a system-building effort to strengthen the quality of after-school programs in the county. During the past two decades, the after-school field has expanded enormously, partly in response to increasing concern about…

The Chapter 1 Program Improvement Project of the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools was designed to provide technical assistance to schools in order to facilitate program change and improve student achievement. The project was a joint effort by the Technical Assistance Center of the Northwest Regional Educational Center and the Portland District…

Michigan is designing a new accountability system that combines high standards and statewide testing within a school accreditation framework. Sound assessment techniques are critical if the accountability system is to provide relevant information to schools and policymakers. One important component of a sound assessment system is measurement of…

Current thinking and research on the nature of formative evaluation of replicable forms of instruction are summarized. Methodologies appropriate for other evaluation roles (e.g. summative) are shown to be often inappropriate for the formative role. This paper attempts to classify sources of information concerning the merit of educational materials…

The New Hampshire Vocational Program Evaluation System (VPES) is designed to: (1) provide program improvement information; (2) provide information on local program effectiveness to aid in designing improvements; and (3) aid in complying with 1976 federal vocational education legislation. The evaluation system is divided into two components:…

A 2-phase study provided summative information on the status of the statewide implementation of California's federally funded migrant program and also provided confidential formative information to program participants at district, regional, and state levels. Guided by an advisory panel, phase I was conducted in 1980-1981 and covered all grade…

The panel which conducted this study was invited by the Florida Teaching Profession--National Education Association (NEA) and the NEA to assess the educational soundness of implementation of the Florida Accountability Act. The panel felt that the overall purpose of the accountability program was praiseworthy, but that the minimum competency…

Evaluation was made of the first year of a project to expand and improve existing career education program components in Great Falls (Montana) public schools using Experience Based Career Education (EBCE). Six major goals in developing procedures leading to full implementation of EBCE strategies addressed were data based implementation,…