Procedures for evaluating day care centers are described, formulated specifically with regard to the information available through, and planning requirements of, the Syracuse Model City Agency. The first chapter discusses some problems involved in providing adequate day care services on the national level, the city level, and within the Syracuse…

The government attempted to set up a viable management information and feedback system for evaluating accountability in services delivery. Conceptual models for agency goals and services delivery were designed and measures were developed in the provision of leisure and recreational services. Two citizen surveys are described. (Author/CTM)

The summative evaluation of the money unit of the Money, Measurement, and Time program developed for educable mentally retarded elementary students is presented to illustrate instructional materials evaluation techniques. The types of information obtained, the techniques employed, and the usefulness of each are detailed. (Author/MV)

Five major classes of information are identified as necessary in a comprehensive evaluation of an educational enterprise: (1) initial status of the learner; (2) learner performance after a period of treatment; (3) program implementation; (4) costs; and (5) supplemental information. Each class of information is presented and discussed in detail,…

An acculturation scale for Mexican Americans was cross-validated on 450 Mexican American college freshmen in south Texas. Factor analysis yielded four factors identified earlier: language preference, ethnic identity/generation removed from Mexico, ethnicity of friends/associates, extent of direct contact with Mexico and ability to read/write in…

The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is a comprehensive youth health risk and resilience data collection service sponsored by the California Department of Education (CDE). This part of the guidebook will assist practitioners in understanding, interpreting, and deriving the maximum benefit from the CHKS results. It provides a basic road map…

Charter schools are a relatively new, but fast-growing, phenomenon in American public education. As such, they merit the attention of all parties interested in the education of the nation's youth. The present report comprises two separate analyses. The first is a "combined analysis" in which hierarchical linear models (HLMs) were…

This monograph presents the findings of a multiyear study of the effectiveness of reform-oriented mathematics and science instruction. It builds on an earlier RAND study, called the Mosaic project, which found "a weak but positive relationship" between reform practices and student achievement (see Klein, Hamilton, McCaffrey, Stecher,…

One of the tasks of the Council for School Performance is to implement measures of school safety to determine the impact of Georgia Lottery for Education expenditures. During the 1994-95 school year, the council pilot-tested several indicators of school safety. This document presents the results of an evaluation that examined the relevance,…

Useful as a classroom text and self-teaching tool, this book outlines the process of designing and reporting action research projects in schools. The underlying assumption of the book is that research is not a domain that belongs only to academics, but is a powerful approach that can be used by practitioners to contribute to school renewal and…

This book uses an extended case study to guide readers through the complexities of evaluating service learning outcomes and their relevance to the curriculum. Eight chapters include: (1) "What Is Service Learning?" (e.g., definition and rationale, developing a service learning program, and standards for effective programs); (2) "The…

This book outlines a process for showing how well a school or district meets its goal of sustained student learning. The first section provides a knowledge base for collecting and reporting educational data. The next section reflects the components of educational change and answers "how to" questions about data gathering, analysis, and reporting…

Given the competition for limited resources at all levels of funding for correctional education coupled with public sentiment that swings between punishment of offenders and their rehabilitation, correctional education data at the program level have become more important than ever. This handbook explores the use of data in correctional education…

Focuses on one of the key measures used in evaluating foster care programs, i.e., length of time in foster care. Examines several variables that affect length of time in foster care and offers suggestions for avoiding data misinterpretations on this measure. (RC)

The ultimate goal of continuing education programs is to bring about improvement in health education. Evaluations of these programs rarely indicate significant change. Problems with evaluations and with continuing education programs are discussed. (JN)