Local assessment systems are being marketed as formative, benchmark, predictive, and a host of other terms. Many so-called formative assessments are not at all similar to the types of assessments and strategies studied by Black and Wiliam (1998) but instead are interim assessments. In this article, we clarify the definition and uses of interim…

In many school districts, the pressure to raise test scores has created overnight celebrity status for formative assessment. Its powers to raise student achievement have been touted, however, without attending to the research on which these claims were based. Sociocultural learning theory provides theoretical grounding for understanding how…

A Chapter I evaluator reflects on developments in her role within the Title One/Chapter One Program through five phases. The phases were characterized, successively, by broad acceptance, defensiveness, indifference, negativity, and openness to criticism. (TJH)

Guidelines for developing an evaluation plan for a gifted education program include recognizing the reluctance to spend money on evaluation, identifying what should be evaluated, deciding when programs should be reevaluated, determining overall evaluation principles, creating the evaluation design, and designing the evaluation plan to fit a…

Both quality and representation are constructs that are central to evaluation as a form of human discourse. Quality is perhaps the most essential idea in evaluation, and once quality is discerned, it must be conveyed, or represented to others. These constructs are considered in the context of the Chicago, Illinois public schools, an urban system…

The purpose of this publication is to highlight the importance of monitoring and documenting alcohol and drug abuse (AOD) program activities. Section 1 of this publication covers basic ideas in evaluating AOD program implementation, various methods of gathering data, and suggestions on selecting instruments. Section 2 contains abstracts of several…

Ethnographic qualitative assessment methods can be used to evaluate gifted programs. Noted are the use of multiple tools in fieldwork, allowing an extended time span, the research as the research instrument, ethnographics research cycle, and use of both macro and micro approaches to the evaluation product. (Author/CB)

Two examples illustrate effective use of evaluation offices. The first, a centralized approach, involves goal setting, followed by measurement techniques and improvement based on data. The second, decentralized approach involves reduction of data to six profiles, which form the basis of planning. Similarities and differences are discussed. (TE)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been the subject of many evaluations during its history. Those evaluations are reviewed, focusing on external evaluations, and the influences of recommendations made in the evaluations are discussed. The report concludes that many of the recommendations of evaluators have been heeded by…

The Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project (LAAMP) has several initiatives, including Parents as Learning Partners (PLP), that attempt to assist parents and schools to work collaboratively in order to increase student achievement. Using PLP, one of LAAMP's major parent engagement initiatives, as a model, this paper discusses using both…

Postmodern approaches to school-level evaluation by building on the fourth-generation evaluation model developed by E. Guba and Y. Lincoln are suggested. It is argued that this conceptualization of evaluation has particular relevance for development of alternative evaluation practices among stakeholders that can improve the use of evaluation…

This interview with Carolyn M. Callahan, an expert in the field of gifted education, addresses the process of evaluating gifted education programs, techniques for maximizing the impact of the evaluation findings, analysis of evaluation impact, benefits of using an outside evaluator, and parent involvement in program evaluation. (JDD)

After a discussion of the underutilization of cost analysis in education, this article offers several explanations for the relative scarcity of cost-based evaluations in education and considers the potential for greater use of such studies. Developing frameworks to unpack costs may be a way of bringing about greater use of cost-based evaluation.…

The reports highlighted in this issue offer an excellent view of the success, value, and contributions of the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Program. Also discusses the federal statistical system and the role that NHES and other national household surveys play in providing the United States with information needed for policy…

This study attempted to identify efforts to evaluate programs for gifted and talented students in 122 Texas school districts and to compare these practices with those recommended in the literature and with Texas Education Association guidelines. Areas examined included informal and formal assessment of student and teacher identification practices,…