Developmental evaluation (DE) offers a powerful approach to monitoring and supporting social innovations by working in partnership with program decision makers. In this book, eminent authority shows how to conduct evaluations within a DE framework. Patton draws on insights about complex dynamic systems, uncertainty, nonlinearity, and emergence. He…

This guide is designed to help districts and schools evaluate reform efforts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including School Improvement Grants. It includes practical, how-to tips for conducting program evaluations, whether one takes a "do-it-yourself" approach or seeks outside assistance to evaluate reform…

Formative evaluation consists of assessing educational programs or other kinds of educational products while they are being developed to help shape them into their final forms. This publication is intended for those whose job it is to develop new programs and products or to evaluate them during development. Topics discussed include: (1) the nature…

Review states that two well-known evaluators have assembled a collection of essays on emerging issues in evaluation. These include global political perspectives, qualitative and quantitative research, the relationship between auditing and evaluation, performance assessment, international evaluation, and methodological issues. (SLD)

The five articles of this theme issue focus on new developments in the evaluation of science education programs that have both substantive and theoretical implications for the field of evaluation. Past and current evaluation approaches are reviewed, and an overview is given of new assessments consistent with new curriculum developments. (SLD)

This paper presents ideas for the development and utilization of a comprehensive evaluation plan for an accelerated school. It contains information about the purposes of a comprehensive evaluation, the evaluation design, and the kinds of data that might be gathered and used. The first section, "An Approach to Evaluation: Multiple Purposes and…

In 1981, the developers of a school-based change effort engaged researchers to conduct an evaluation study employing qualitative methodology that would provide the developers with information that could be used to improve the program. Resource constraints, short timelines, and the developers' preference for useable information encouraged…

This guide describes the New York State assessment process as a framework for other districts aiming to develop an effective approach to performance assessment. In 1984-85 the New York State Board of Regents initiated the Comprehensive Assessment Report (CAR) as a process of reporting and using education results throughout the state. The…

In light of the National Education Goals of 1990, several arguments against any federally funded large-scale census approach to the assessment of college student learning in the United States are presented to clarify challenges to an objective of Goal 5, which specifies that "the proportion of college graduates who demonstrate advanced…

This document reports on a study designed (1) to develop a plan for school improvement using information obtained from an attitude survey, (2) to examine the implementation of the plan, and (3) to evaluate the results to determine if improvements had occurred. Attitude surveys were conducted of students, parents, supporters, and staff in the…

An assessment model was developed to produce change in adult basic education (ABE) programs and thereby improve learning for adult students. During the development of the model, 89 ABE programs were analyzed. To determine the effect that ABE has on the quality of life of its students, researchers observed 77 of the 89 programs included in the…

This guide, which examines the relationship between learning processes and learning outcomes, is aimed at senior managers, quality managers, and others at colleges and other post-16 learning providers in the United Kingdom. It is intended to help them define the key processes undertaken by learning providers, understand the critical relationships…