As theory-based evaluation (TBE) engages in situations where multiple stakeholders help develop complex program theory about dynamic phenomena in politically contested settings, it becomes difficult to develop and use program theory without ambiguity. The purpose of this article is to explore ambiguity as a fruitful perspective that helps TBE face…

Program evaluation can play a critical role in supporting high quality implementation of social programs to help them achieve their goal of social impact. Evaluation scholars have developed a wide range of strategies to help build programs' internal evaluation capacity in an effort to support meaningful use of evaluation. However, the evaluation…

Traditionally, models of instructional leadership espouse data-informed decision making in response to student assessment outcomes as one of the core school leader behaviors. In recent years, rising expectations from accountability policies and related assessment practices have myriad implications for school districts, specifically in the areas of…

The use of data to inform decisionmaking and practice at the school and district levels is now a common feature of reform efforts. Advances in districts' technological capacities have produced data systems that allow a flow of data to and from schools, often to the point of creating an overwhelming flood of information. To make the flow of…

This study sought to explore the ways that evaluation influenced changes in attitudes and actions at the individual and interpersonal levels and the pathways through which this influence occurred, all in a real-world evaluation context. Specifically, Mark & Henry's (2004) proposed model of evaluation influence was used as the framework…

In this study, we examined relationships between the use of test results and US students' math, reading, and science performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009. Based on a literature review, we hypothesized that the 16 items in the PISA school questionnaire, which are related to the use of test results, can be…

The importance of higher education has never been clearer. Educational attainment--the number of years a person spends in school--strongly predicts adult earnings, as well as health and civic engagement. Yet relative to other developed nations, educational attainment in the United States is lagging, with young Americans who heretofore led the…

Background/Context: College grades can influence a student's graduation prospects, academic motivation, postgraduate job choice, professional and graduate school selection, and access to loans and scholarships. Despite the importance of grades, national trends in grading practices have not been examined in over a decade, and there has been a…

The current main world university rankings broadly group the leading research universities of nations. Australia's Go8 universities are generally within the top 250 ranked universities, with several institutions in the top 50-100 on some measures. This recognition is commendable, however imperfect the individual rankings may be. Use is made of…

The study examined the role of classroom assessment and its relationships to student characteristics and mathematics performance by comparing the USA, Canada and Finland using Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 data. The results indicated that student individual characteristics such as gender, family social-cultural status,…

The purpose of this holistic case study with a mixed methods approach was two-fold: first, to investigate the extent to which elementary teachers in the BTSD sustained the use of formative assessment reform to regulate instruction, and second, to explore the factors that promoted fidelity to formative assessment reform. Although this study…

A metamodel of evaluation utilization was developed from implicit and explicit process models and ideas developed in recent research. The model depicts evaluation use as occurring in an internal environment situated in an external environment. Background variables, international or social psychological variables, and evaluation use variables are…

This paper reports on the factors that characterize high-utilization evaluations. It is based on materials submitted to an American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division H competition for outstanding examples of evaluation utilization. The paper is organized into three sections. The first section outlines the background of the study:…

This survey examined the test use practices of counselors who belong to either or both of two divisions of the American Association for Counseling and Development: the American School Counselors Association, and the Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. A questionnaire covering test use patterns, test…

Secondary school principals in Ohio were surveyed regarding their reliance on formal and informal information for decision making and potential predictors of such reliance. Data supported the existence of a number of dimensions that distinguish principals who are greater information users from lesser users. (Author/LMO)