In this article, we reflect on our experience applying a framework for evaluating systems change to an evaluation of a statewide West Virginia alliance funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve the early persistence of rural, first-generation, and other underrepresented minority science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

The last two decades have seen fast-moving and wholescale changes in the ways that education is now provided in French schools, in the nature of learner assessment, and in the form and scale of system evaluation. Innovation and reform have in part followed international trends, themselves triggered by the global impact of the international…

The majority of OECD countries now implement one form or another of standards-based assessment and evaluation. The core logic of standards-based systems rests upon the alignment of three key elements: "standards" defining the knowledge and skills--or "competences"--students are expected to have attained at different stages of…

As part of its work to advance the multiple pathways approach to high school education, the James Irvine Foundation engaged the Bridgespan Group to develop a framework for assessing the nature and needs of the fields in which nonprofits operate. These agents of change often struggle to understand how to focus their field-building investments and…

This chapter describes the adaptation of the case study method to assessing increasingly complex, comprehensive reform initiatives that highlight the blurring of the boundaries between phenomenon and context and the concurrence of multiple interventions. Completed studies of two education reform programs illustrate the ongoing challenges of…

In a case study of a large Australian university the metaphor of panarchy is used as a means of describing and understanding the complex interrelationships of multi-scale institutional projects and the influences of a variety factors on the potential success of e-learning initiatives. The concept of para-analysis is introduced as a management…

This article focuses on the impact of research and education evaluation on two universities: Trento State University (Italy) and the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). The article adopts a system approach to evaluation and proposes a model to describe and analyse evaluation systems. The analysis has been carried out by means of in-depth…

It is argued that although many institutions conduct informal and unrecorded post-tenure faculty evaluations, these evaluations lack authority, and adoption of a system of regular, formal evaluations would allow institutions to avoid the crisis mentality most adopt concerning planning and staffing. (MSE)

The Professional Development Leadership Academy supports states in transforming systems of professional development. This paper investigates accountability considerations that are necessary to determine the impact and results of professional development from a state systems perspective. The five areas of focus that comprise the Academy knowledge…

Recent reforms in K-12 education have increasingly emphasized the educational system as the unit of change. The theory underlying systemic or systemwide educational reform is that powerful improvements in teaching and learning can come from developing coherence and alignment across the complex and different elements and components of an…

This document considers the relationships between competency-based teacher education (CBTE) and early childhood education (ECE) and examines the implications of these relationships. CBTE is defined as follows: its objective is to specify competencies; it applies systems theory; and it features personalization and individualization, instructional…

An introductory guide to systems approach to educational problems, this book attempts to help educators identify the basic strengths and weaknesses of existing systems at their working level and to modify the systems to improve their effectiveness. The book offers an introduction to systems approach technique, recommendations on selection of media…

A recent review of international literature revealed two basic social-change paradigms, equilibrium and conflict. These define ideological predispositions that influence the manner in which evaluations are conducted. Most current evaluations of educational reform can be classified under the equilibrium paradigm; the federally sponsored…

Discusses the transition for faculty from teaching traditional classes to online courses, including new pedagogical approaches, assessment practices, group interaction, and student/teacher dialog. Describes a systems change approach being implemented at Southern Cross University (Australia) that includes a collaborative action learning model for…

Oregon's Educational Act for the 21st Century is a remarkably comprehensive and systematic approach to school reform. Relying on a broad partnership of business leaders, parents, teachers, and educational professionals, it calls for a shift in public attitudes, a focus on outcome-based evaluations, and efforts to ensure its compatibility with…