Statistical neighbour models provide one method for benchmarking progress. For each local authority (LA), these models designate a number of other LAs deemed to have similar characteristics. These designated LAs are known as statistical neighbours. Any LA may compare its performance (as measured by various indicators) against its statistical…

Dyslexia is a term that has been applied since the early part of the 20th Century to many students with reading difficulties. The term comes from medicine, but its broadest application is within education. Many educators, however, remain confused about the term in spite of the fact that major advances in the understanding of dyslexia have been…

In many education systems, young peoples' "disaffection" is increasingly equated with non-participation in education, training and employment. There is also an expectation that educational activity can provide a key response to this situation. Drawing upon a case study of a successful development project based in Bristol, England which…

This article explores the interaction of formal and informal attributes of competence-based assessment. Specifically, it presents evidence from a small qualitative case study of summative assessment practices for competence-based qualifications within apprenticeships in the motor industry in England. The data are analysed through applying an…

In this article, the author describes how difficult it is to know how critically literate her students are in the adult senior high school in which she is a teacher-librarian. She assumes that many would have gaps in their learning, including gaps in information and critical literacy skills, and that they were likely to approach all online…

Background: Reliable measures of aggressive challenging behaviour are required if interventions aimed at reducing this behaviour among people with intellectual disability (ID) are to be formally evaluated. The present authors examined the reliability of the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS), an instrument not yet formally tested in those with…

The purpose of this study was to describe student learning in executive leadership core competencies after being engaged in a two-semester leadership education sequence. The researchers used evaluative research techniques to compare perceived and actual growth in learning of executive leadership competencies. Data collection consisted of a…

In this article, we review the empirical evidence on the impact of education vouchers on student achievement, and briefly discuss the evidence from other forms of school choice. The best research to date finds relatively small achievement gains for students offered education vouchers, most of which are not statistically different from zero.…

The Parent Education Profile (PEP) is an instrument that rates parents' support for children's literacy development. This study examined how the PEP portrays the ideal parent, its assumptions about parenting and education, and the values and ideals it promotes. In sum, many aspects of the PEP evaluate parents by the mainstream (White,…

This study examines how mathematics and science teachers' classroom assessment practices were affected by the National Board Certification process. Using a 3-year, longitudinal, comparison group design, evidence of changes in teachers' classroom practice were measured on six dimensions of formative assessment. The National Board candidates began…

A 2 years and 10 months old child receiving an early intensive teaching program using the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS[R]) was taught using evidence-based teaching strategies and curricula based on existing research in both the applied and basic sciences. Progress was measured using behavioral assessment tools…

The chronic and relapsing nature of substance abuse points to the need for continuing care after a primary phase of treatment. This article reviews the economic studies of continuing care, discusses research gaps, highlights some of the challenges of conducting rigorous economic evaluations of continuing care, and offers research guidelines and…

The Florida Association of Voluntary Agencies for Caribbean Action (FAVA/CA) was formed to provide on-site, overseas technical assistance and training in health, agriculture, social services, and education. This paper reports on the beginnings of an evaluation of the New Life Organization (NEWLO), a vocational training institute in Grenada, West…

Recruiting schools and kids to participate in drug prevention evaluations is no longer, if it ever was, a "done deal." Since the mid-1980s, schools have been inundated with requirements for drug programs and requests to cooperate with program evaluations. As a consequence, both treatment and control schools are harder to find. In addition, many…

This report on Phase IV, of a four-phase study, provided for the development of evaluation templates and instruments to be used by the California Department of Education to facilitate systematic assessment of state funded educational technology programs and projects. These assessment documents comprised the major data collection sources for the…