The acceptance of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) as a legitimate form of scholarly investigation and the shape that it takes in post-secondary education are inherently discipline-specific. This paper examines how the character and heritage of public administration influence the acceptance of SoTL, and the form that it takes. It…

After decades of disinterest, evaluation of the performance of elementary and secondary teachers in the United States has become an important educational policy issue. As U.S. states and districts have tried to upgrade their evaluation processes, one of the models that has been increasingly used is the Framework for Teaching. This paper summarizes…

Beginning in 2002, The Chicago Community Trust embarked on an ambitious grant- making strategy to improve education outcomes primarily in the city of Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. Known as The Education Initiative, this effort focused on three priority grant areas: literacy, professional development, and alternative models of schools. In…

Principals know that effective teachers are the greatest school-based contributors to improved student outcomes. What is not always clear is how principals can help teachers adapt their instructional practices to the increasingly diverse learning styles they find in their classrooms. Teacher evaluation practices are typically not seen as a tool…

The Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI; Psychological Corporation, 1999) and the Wide Range Intelligence Test (WRIT; Glutting, Adams, & Sheslow, 2000) are two well-normed brief measures of general intelligence with subtests purportedly assessing verbal-crystallized abilities and nonverbal-fluid-visual abilities. With a sample of…

In this issue's "Ethical Challenges" column, commentators share their views of how evaluators might respond to specific problematic situations, linking their analyses to the principles and standards they believe are most relevant to the case. Not surprisingly, the perspectives that commentators offer are not always in agreement. When…

This guide is designed as a resource for leaders and evaluators of K-12 online learning programs. In this guide, the term "online learning" is used to refer to a range of education programs and resources in the K-12 arena, including distance learning courses offered by universities, private providers, or teachers at other schools;…

A study compared results of a 1990 survey of educators to determine growth in knowledge and use of portfolio assessment. The study aimed to report the reactions and feelings of educators who use or may plan portfolios. A total of 173 educators from Illinois enrolled in a literacy workshop sponsored by a midwestern reading association answered a…

Problems of definition in estimation in evaluation research were studied through a survey of homeless persons in Cook County (Illinois) based on 481 interviews. Differences arising from the following four population definitions are presented: (1) traditional homeless; (2) marginally housed; (3) social isolates; and (4) total of these categories.…

This article presents the descriptive results of a statewide evaluation of hotline, advocacy, and counseling services provided to sexual assault victims in Illinois. Collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary research team and sexual assault service providers resulted in victim-sensitive evaluation measures and data that reflect, for the first…

Correlational analysis, classical test theory, confirmatory factor analysis, and multilevel Rasch modeling were used to refine a measure of adolescents' exposure to violence (ETV). Interpersonal violence could be distinguished from other potentially traumatic events; it was also possible to distinguish three routes of exposure (victimization,…

Many states have implemented high-stakes testing since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Yet the question remains whether high-stakes tests effectively measure student proficiency. This report describes a study that compared results on high-stakes tests with results on other standardized tests not used for accountability…