The purpose of this study is to develop a nonparametric DIF method that (a) compares focal groups directly to the composite group that will be used to develop the reported test score scale, and (b) allows practitioners to explore for DIF related to focal groups stemming from multicategorical variables that constitute a small proportion of the…

Assessment of learning has become very important for government, universities and accrediting agencies. In this article, two variables are examined, leadership and teamwork, in the context of a survey used by one mid-south university for assessment purposes. This survey demonstrates the problems that arise when the sequential steps of the research…

Sound evaluation planning requires numerous decisions about how constructs in a program theory will be translated into measures and instruments that produce evaluation data. This article, the first in a dialogue exchange, examines how decisions about measurement are (and should be) made, especially in the context of small-scale local program…

Interventions based on the results of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) have been the topic of extensive research and, in certain cases, mandated for students with disabilities under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. There exist a wide variety of methods for conducting such assessments, with little consensus in the field. The…

The purpose of this research to investigate the heterogeneity of per-pupil expenditure (PPE) slope estimates in predicting student achievement. The research question guiding this project is: how does the measured relationship between per-pupil expenditure vary across studies that use different models? In concert with SREE's 2012 conference mission…

This review presents a novel framework for evaluating evidence based on a set of parallel criteria that can be applied to both group and single-subject experimental design (SSED) studies. The authors illustrate use of this evaluation system in a systematic review of 67 articles investigating social skills interventions for preschoolers with autism…

Universities in Europe have been playing an increasingly important role in the institutional evaluation of political and social systems for the last thirty years. Their major contribution to those processes of accountability has been to add methods and safeguards of evaluative research. In this paper we report an illustration of how evaluative…

The determinants of sentencing are of much interest in criminal justice and legal research. Understanding the determinants of sentencing decisions is important for ensuring transparent, consistent, and justifiable sentencing practice that adheres to the goals of sentencing, such as the punishment, rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation of…

Effective policymaking requires understanding the causal effects of competing proposals. Relevant causal quantities include proposals' expected effect on different groups of recipients, the impact of policies over time, the potential trade-offs between competing objectives, and, ultimately, the optimal policy. This dissertation studies causal…

Second-generation early intervention research typically involves the specification of multivariate relations between interventions, outcomes, and other variables. Moderation and mediation involve variables or sets of variables that influence relations between interventions and outcomes. Following the framework of Baron and Kenny's (1986) seminal…

"Theory as Method: Small Theories of Treatments," by Mark W. Lipsey, is one of the most influential and highly cited articles to appear in "New Directions for Evaluation." It articulated an approach in which methods for studying causation depend, in large part, on what is known about the theory underlying the program. Lipsey discussed the benefits…

Examines difficulties with citation analysis as it is used to study citation frequency, usually for the evaluation of scientists, publications, or institutions. Topics addressed include selection of a control set of papers, comparisons of different types of papers (e.g., methodological or theoretical), effects of independent variables, and use of…

Describes an inductive approach to the evaluation of developmental studies programs using multiple regression analysis to explore variables that contribute to program success. (DR)

Methods for ordering and selecting variables for discriminant analysis in multiple group comparison or group prediction studies include: univariate Fs, stepwise analysis, learning discriminant function (LDF) variable correlations, communalities, LDF standardized coefficients, and weighted standardized coefficients. Five indices based on distance,…

Two case examples illustrate how single-case designs (alternating treatments, multiple baseline, and reversal) can be used to evaluate manipulable influences on school performance. In each case, the success of an intervention plan is evaluated within the single-case design. (SLD)