Professional development is an important part of creating a culture of continuous school improvement to maximize student learning. Rarely do we measure the impact of professional development on teacher learning, implementation and student outcomes. This study describes a professional development strategy for elementary teachers to promote…

Assessing individuals' social and emotional (SE) knowledge, attitudes, and skills is a complex task. It requires careful consideration of the assessment purpose, rigor, practicality, burden, and ethics. Once you have considered these factors and have determined that you are, in fact, "Ready to Assess," you are ready to act and choose an…

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) works with low-income countries around the world to help them provide basic education of good quality to all of their children. Countries develop education sector plans that set clear targets and commitments; their partners including donors, multilateral agencies, civil society and the private sector…

Background: In 2008 primary education in England reached, historically, another important phase in its development. Government reviewed the primary curriculum and some aspects of the national system of assessment. These government reviews coincided with an independent "Primary Review" based at the University of Cambridge to which the…

California's program review process has been designed to judge the effects of the school program on students and staff and to identify opportunities for improving the program. The majority of program reviews are conducted by representatives of the State Department of Education and by consortia of school districts. These program reviewers will use…

The use of philosophic methods, especially concept analysis, in evaluation is explored through a retrospective study of a school district reading evaluation. The application of philosophic techniques in the design, conduct, and review of local district evaluations is assessed. (Author/AL)

This booklet outlines procedures for evaluating a school district's writing program that was designed to overcome the adverse educational and social effects of minority group isolation by improving the academic achievement of minority group students. The first section describes how the writing program addressed three of the school district's…

The "responsive evaluation" approach does not provide strong proof that a program was a success or failure or even hard data for making good comparisons, but it often results in people understanding their program better. (Author/IRT)

The paper assesses an effort by the elementary school system of Hammond, Indiana, to develop and implement an educational program to improve children's attitudes toward animal life. Three levels of humane education treatment were introduced. The first level, introduced in seven schools, consisted of an intensive program involving humane education…

Elementary school principals and guidance personnel are being called upon more frequently to evaluate the efficacy of educational goals and the means for attaining these goals. This article presents alternative methods to standardized testing for garnering significant information about the school environment. Three broad categories presented are…

A former editor of this journal, 1969-72, selects an article from his tenure that stands as an outstanding example of evaluation research. The article selected describes the comprehensive evaluation of the Individually Prescribed Instruction Project in mathematics in three Alberta elementary schools. The project was evaluated via classroom…

New federal proposals have fueled national interest in class-size reduction (CSR). However, CSR raises numerous concerns, some of which are addressed in this policy brief. The text draws on the experiences of states and districts that have implemented CSR. The brief addresses the following 15 concerns: Do small classes in and of themselves affect…

The evaluation of bilingual education programs is complicated by such factors as the diversity of evaluation methodologies and program goals and the reliability of instruments for minority language students. Three bilingual program evaluations in foreign countries are described in terms of their different contexts and approaches in order to raise…

This report presents the results of a study conducted by a professional research firm in order to answer 19 evaluation questions formulated by the Illinois Office of Education. A review and assessment of primary and secondary data sources was conducted, state and local bilingual education officials were consulted, and field data in a Chicago…

In 655 schools in 27 states, the Literacy Collaborative aims to improve elementary students' literacy achievement. A trained literacy coordinator trains other teachers and provides in-class coaching. Systematic collection of data on every child and data utilization by all program participants support continuous school improvement and create a…