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…

This study focuses on teachers' use of informal formative assessments (IFAs) aimed at improving students' learning and teachers' recognition of students' learning processes. The study was designed as an explorative case study of four middle school teachers and their students at a charter school in the northeastern U.S.A. The data collected for the…

This article synthesizes interview data from evaluation directors and top executives of philanthropic foundations on how evaluation might better advance their missions. In key informant interviews, respondents commented on the purposes of evaluation from the foundation's perspective, challenges to effective evaluation, and the means by which…

The goal of professional learning communities (PLC) is for teachers to come together to discuss and examine student learning and ultimately to make instructional changes that can lead to improved student learning. The formative use of assessments that are commonly agreed upon by this community of teachers is believed to enhance their improvement…

Although interim assessments are currently promoted as a mechanism for improving teaching and student learning, we know little about how teachers use this data to modify instruction. This article presents findings from a larger study on teachers' use of interim assessment information in elementary mathematics. We address the following questions:…

This article examines the use of interim assessments in elementary schools in the School District of Philadelphia. The article reports on the qualitative component of a multimethod study about the use of interim assessments in Philadelphia. The study used an organizational learning framework to explore how schools can best develop the capacity to…

Background: Through its Children First initiative, New York City policymakers promoted collaborative inquiry as a process for helping administrators and teachers use student data to improve instruction and raise student achievement. Since 2007, city schools were expected to engage higher proportions of faculty in the inquiry work each year.…

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), districts, schools, and educators are pressured to collect, analyze and report data annually regarding student performance. If high-stakes assessments are to be useful tools for educators in their classrooms, the data need to be applicable in conveying meaningful instructional information…

Examines research conducted at the British Open University using the research paradigm of phenomenography to discover what students understand about particular concepts in social science. The use of student interviews for formative and summative evaluation is described, and changes in course materials based on the results are discussed.…

This study examined the use of training program evaluation results in corporate universities. Specifically, the study attempted to determine which organizational members use evaluation data, and for what purposes, and identify the factors that are related to the use of evaluation results. The study was designed to test the appropriateness of the…

The background and purpose of course assessment are examined. The paper includes suggestions for classroom instructors in setting up formative assessment plans based on qualitative research. Focus is on the interview technique. It is discussed as a practical source for evaluating what actually takes place during a course, including the appraisal…

This paper describes the means by which an in-house evaluation for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was constructed to facilitate communication among different levels of the agency. The VDOT underwent a decentralization process, beginning in 1986, under the direction of a decentralization committee. In early 1989, a qualitative…

An evaluation of a prekindergarten program was conducted to assess its merit and to assist in the formative revision of program activities. The program operated in a public elementary school in a rural area close to a metropolitan area. Classroom observations, telephone interviews with 25 parents, surveys of 2 elementary school teachers, and…