The study investigated the relationships between assessment for learning (AfL) and attributes of two school-related contexts--the classroom assessment culture (CAC) in which AfL is embedded, and the larger context in which CAC is nested, namely the school-based professional learning community (SBPLC). The research design comprised two…

To what extent does the intense and direct involvement of internal stakeholders, such as program managers and staff members, play a significant role toward evaluation use? Stakeholder involvement is a key element in evaluation and evaluation use is considered within a broader sense that includes organizational knowledge, individual skills, and…

The characteristics of written comments on assignments as well as the process of writing them were studied. Interviews to three case-study middle school students, observation of lessons and content analysis of their assignments show that features that promote learning are: comments located next to what needs revision must be reviewed; use of…

This paper synthesizes the existing literature on stakeholder involvement in program evaluation, drawing a basic distinction between deep involvement of a few versus less active involvement of a broad range of stakeholders. The paper then comments on the case studies described in this special issue and integrates them with previously published…

In this article, we report the results of an instrumental, mixed methods case study (Stake, 1995) of a culturally responsive school-based evaluation initiative. In studying culturally responsive school-based evaluation, we found some broader issues with school-based evaluation more generally. These challenges include what knowledge schools need to…

This chapter describes evaluator behaviors revealed by the case analysis of a participatory and developmental evaluation. The analysis revealed that the evaluator paid specific attention to individual stakeholder cues. These cues were related to three elements of the evaluation: negotiating the design, monitoring individual stakeholder needs, and…

The purpose of this article is to describe a new approach for conducting multi-site evaluations of professional development (PD). The approach extends a popular model of PD evaluation through the creation of individual project profiles that take into account the unique contextual variables of individual projects while providing an evaluation…

This study investigates how different types of prior knowledge influence student achievement and how different assessment measures influence the observed effect of prior knowledge. We introduce a model of prior knowledge that distinguishes between different types of prior knowledge and uses different assessment measures to assess different types…

Advocate the use of repeated applications of inventories of approaches to learning as an appropriate technique for the evaluation of educational innovations. Presents three case studies that use the Study Process Questionnaire (J. Biggs, 1987) to show how the measure can be used for innovations in naturalistic settings. (SLD)

Characterized the methodology of case studies, using examples from science education, with regard to their potential for the analysis of innovation and formulation of emerging trends. The theoretical and empirical support of evaluation will generate a call for negotiation as the formula that regulates the assessment of a program's efficiency and…

The article examines the processes and challenges involved in conducting participatory research and evaluation in schools, by looking at a case study of a collaborative evaluation research that was conducted in a secondary school in Israel by two researchers and three teachers. It describes the experiences of the research team while conducting the…

Presents results of a study of the organizational and political context of internal and external school evaluation in four European countries, focusing on evaluation methods and the role of the inspectorate. Also presents a comparative analysis of four cases of school self-evaluation at the elementary level in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands,…

A teacher appraisal instrument was developed and validated for a system of teacher evaluation in Rivers State (Nigeria). The developed Likert scale for teacher scoring was tested for 410 teachers evaluated by 16 headteacher evaluators. Initial findings suggest areas in which the appraisal process and instrument can be improved. (SLD)

The Comprehensive Assessment of School Environments Information Management System (CASE-IMS) is described as a model and as a school improvement process that can provide schools with a framework and research-based tools for achieving a vision. Development of the model, its 34 variables, and the computerized information management system are…

Participant observations and key informant interviews were used in three case studies, each case corresponding to a different degree of researcher involvement in a Canadian school district's participatory evaluation. The contextual differences observed are discussed, and the usefulness of the approach to studying evaluation methods is described.…