In 2000, PBS contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) to conduct a five-year evaluation of "Ready To Learn" outreach. The evaluation includes an impact study of the effects of "Ready To Learn" workshops on participating parents and early childhood educators, as well as on the preschool children in their care. Conducted in 20 "Ready…

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on family support services for families with young children with disabilities. Within the last two decades, the focus of early intervention has begun shifting from child-centered to family-centered practice with an emphasis on providing comprehensive family support in the delivery of…

This paper examines issues related to the statistical power of impact estimates for experimental evaluations of education programs. The focus is on "group-based" experimental designs, because many studies of education programs involve random assignment at the group level (for example, at the school or classroom level) rather than at the student…

After two years of unsuccessful pilot programs for e-portfolio development within the Teacher Education Department at the University of Indianapolis, implementation of an INTASC (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium) standards-based assessment system including digital portfolio building using TaskStream (TS) seems to hold…

Many of the services, functions, and publications of Research and Planning at Nova Southeastern University, Florida, were studied. The evaluation was aimed at university improvement and to meet the requirements of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools that each institution examine the effectiveness of its…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that examined the use of accommodations in state assessment by students with disabilities and explored several related factors. A survey of states indicated 12 states (Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and West…

This case study examined the influences of autonomy and uncertain expectations of accountability on the functioning of an urban charter school during its initial years of development. The school studied was a charter school in its second year of development that was attempting to measure student improvement in challenging areas such as social…

The last few years have seen a growing interest in comparative international research on children and youth and in the development of internationally comparable indicators of well-being. This paper provides an overview of 13 international surveys that can be used to support such work. In addition to a basic description of the survey, each overview…

A statewide performance-based accreditation system began using a performance index in 1995-96 to indicate where school districts fall in the distribution of accreditation levels. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a significant gain in the performance index in the second year. The performance index was based on the…

In March 1995 the Ohio General Assembly enacted a Pilot Project Scholarship Program intended to provide a limited number of vouchers to allow Cleveland public school students to attend alternative schools, i.e. private schools, including those operated by religious organizations, within the Cleveland city limits and public schools in surrounding…

The educational system of Turkey and educational evaluation efforts are described. In Turkey, the educational system includes optional preschool education, compulsory elementary education through age 14, secondary education for 3 or 4 years more (3 for university preparation, 4 for vocational education), and higher education. All of the preschool,…

A four-phase systematic approach to evaluating human resource development (HRD) programs and/or courses was developed. The approach consists of four distinct, yet interrelated phases: select evaluation targets; develop the evaluation plan; collect and analyze information/data; and prepare an evaluation report. First, 23 potential evaluation…

Technology education planners must evaluate, change, and modify content to match rapid international advancements. Verification of seen and unseen factors that would improve technology education output is possible through periodic assessment of student learnability competence. The ultimate tool in researching student learnability is the assessment…

This paper describes the conceptualization and development of an evaluation system that can be used to monitor and evaluate online instructional efforts. The evaluation system addresses concerns of both program administrators and course instructors. Computer technology is used to provide partial automation to reduce respondent burden and to…

This case study examined formative assessment of a first-year core course initiated in response to an external requirement. The paper discusses the campus assessment climate; describes how course faculty became proponents for assessment; explains how the core survey became housed in a larger student satisfaction survey; and outlines key elements…