The nature of experimental designs in the evaluation of educational programs is addressed in this commentary on the evaluation of the Emergency School Aid Act and a paper detailing that evaluation (TM 503 672). (JKS)

The evaluators of the Emergency School Aid Act respond to commentaries on their evaluation of the act and their article detailing that evaluation (TM 503 672). Each commentary is discussed. (See TM 503 673 through 678). (JKS)

This document answers the question, "What has been learned about evaluation methodology from the decade of compensatory education"? Ten issues dealing with the evaluation of Title I were identified within a general theoretical framework of evaluation. For each issue it was the aim of this document to do the following: 1)to clarify the…

The site variability issue for Direct Instruction Follow Through sites is examined from a variety of perspectives--meta-analysis of the Abt Associates' data, norm-referenced comparisons, and a longitudinal look at stability of effects. Much of the seemingly unexplained variability found in both the Abt report and the reports by M. Kennedy and E.…

Problems encountered in large-scale educational evaluations are discussed using the evaluation of the Emergency School Aid Act as an example. This extensive article focuses primarily on methodological issues. (JKS)

This research plan is a direct response to the education Amendments of 1974 which instructs the National Institute of Education to design and conduct a compensatory education study. The research design, as outlined in this report, intends to examine programs and look for identifiable factors in funding, organization, and instructional methods…

A quality control review of Connecticut's Sustained Effects studies was undertaken by the Chapter 1 Evaluation Technical Assistance Center (TAC) operated by RMC Research Corporation. Nineteen Connecticut school districts had selected from among four basic evaluation designs in implementing the Chapter 1 Sustained Effects requirement during 1982 to…

Educational program evalaution is subject to many difficulties. Problems with evaluation include such conceptual problems as: (1) understanding of decisions to be made; (2) adequate definition; (3) consensus on values and criteria; (4) coordination among administrative levels; and (5) use of an appropriate evaluation model. Technical problems…

Both administratively and in terms of their evaluations, Head Start and Follow Through have been treated as separate programs. Follow Through was initially conceived, however, as an effort to preserve and augment Head Start gains. In this report, achievement test data on a set of children who participated in both Head Start and Follow Through are…

A survey of compensatory and noncompensatory reading programs in grades 2, 4, and 6 of the U. S. public schools was carried out in spring 1972. Phase I, the subject of this report, involved two tasks: (1) describing what was meant by "compensatory reading", and (2) identifying the characteristics of schools in which compensatory reading…

The research design and analytic approaches used in the national evaluation of the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title VII Spanish/English Bilingual Education Program are described. This study evaluated the entire program, as opposed to individual projects, and had four goals: to (1) determine the cognitive and affective impact of…

Guidance is provided for state Chapter 2 coordinators and evaluators in designing and implementing the congressionally mandated evaluation of the effectiveness of the Chapter 2 program. The first part of this paper reviews the congressional mandate and discusses the appropriate audience for evaluation reports. A schedule is outlined for conducting…

Kindergarten pupils enrolled in Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I schools were selected for the Kindergarten Extended Day (KED) Program if they showed marked underachievement on the Cooperative Preschool Inventory (CPI). KED students attended kindergarten for an additional half day. Since previous evaluations of KED may have had…

The Abt Associates' final report on the Follow-Through Planned Variation Experiment is defended against the critique published by a blue ribbon panel funded by the Ford Foundation. In contrast to the conclusions drawn by House, Glass, McLean, and Walker that Follow Through showed no "winners" or "losers", the National…

Along with the rapid expansion over the past decade of Head Start, a program providing comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children, their families, and their communities, has come the demand for rigorous research to demonstrate program effectiveness. This report describes the proposed design of a national study of the…