Test developers are responsible to define how test scores should be interpreted and used. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) directed the Secretary of Education to use results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to confirm the proficiency scores from state developed tests. There are two sets of federal definitions…

Recent work has shown that many state supported school counseling programs have not developed working statewide program evaluation schemas. This study examined two exemplary examples of state level program evaluation. Mixed-method case studies were created and then analyzed across cases to reveal common themes and best practices. The findings…

E-portfolios are a rich, flexible tool for teaching, learning, and assessment. They provide institutions with a way to assess how well they are educating their students. However, it is important for institutions to know why e-portfolios are important learning and assessment tool for institutions both now and for the future. Higher education…

The Vocational Education Evaluation in Virginia (VEEVA) evaluation procedures were studied. Data from questionnaires completed by evaluation coordinators were organized and are presented in the article. Recommendations and implications provide insights into the improvement of evaluation systems. (DWH)

The extent to which evaluation and auditing have converged on procedures in recent years and the extent to which they remain different are examined in the five chapters of this special issue. Different emphases, the question of collaboration with the subjects of inquiry, and issues of routinized performance are explored. (SLD)

The Holtzman Project at Northwestern University reviewed educational program evaluations at the federal, state, and local levels of government. This paper focuses on the administration of the project, including constraints on its operations, the strategic decisions that seemed correct at the time, and some decisions that now seem wrong. (BW)

Suggestions for enhancing use of evaluation studies (i.e., state-level mental health programs) are presented. Steps for maximizing evaluation utilization include marketing, planning, and conducting the evaluation; developing/focusing policy questions; translating findings; and making people pay attention to the results. These are processes for…

The assertion that evaluation has become institutionalized at state and local levels to a much greater degree than is commonly understood is supported by a discussion of trends in evaluation. Evidence is presented that evaluation plays an increasingly important informational role as the level of evaluation becomes more local. (SLD)

Interviews with state legislators from Wisconsin (D. Bezruki), Massachusetts (T. P. Kennedy), and Virginia (P. Leone) illustrate the roles that evaluation is playing in the current state budget crisis. The influence of evaluation data appears largely specific to individual programs rather than systematically applied to the budgeting process. (SLD)

This paper has two aims, each bearing on recent developments in evaluation policy. The first is to summarize a report presented in 1980 to the United States Congress and Department of Education, concerning evaluation policy and practices at the national, state, and local levels of government. The second aim is to link some of the United States…

During the spring of 1987, the National Conference of State Legislatures awarded the Nebraska Legislature a cost-sharing award to study local school evaluation processes. Embodied in Legislative Resolution 181, which has the purpose of studying school evaluation procedures, the study attempts to provide legislators, educators, local school…

Written for local, State, and Federal vocational educators, this publication discusses the feasibility of implementing recommendations from some recent evaluations of educational excellence. Criteria for estimating the appropriateness of evaluation findings are given, and recommendations are offered for creating an infrastructure among local,…

An evaluation system which would describe and assess statewide services for preschool children is described. Component theory conceptualizes the unit of analysis for evaluation as the component. This approach increases the generalizability and utilization of evaluations and enhances the ability to evaluate several programs at the state level.…

This article concerns recommendations made in a report to Congress and the Department of Education on evaluation of federally supported education programs. The work covers local, state, and federal efforts to address questions about why and how well evaluations are done, and about how results are used. The recommendations are directed toward…

In the Connecticut School Effectiveness Project, data are collected on seven characteristics of effective schooling: safe and orderly environment, clear school mission, instructional leadership, high expectations, opportunity to learn and time on task, frequent monitoring of student progress, and home-school relations. These data are collected…