Short message service (SMS or text messaging) surveys can collect data quickly and inexpensively. However, SMS surveys have space constraints that pose difficulties to questionnaire designers: Questions can only be 160 characters or less, surveys must be short, and many respondents use phones with small screens. In this article, we compare SMS and…

This manuscript chronicles the process and products of a redesign for evaluation of the graduate college experience (GCE) which was initiated by a university graduate college, based on its observed need to reconsider and update its measures and methods for assessing graduate students' experiences. We examined the existing instrumentation and…

The meaning, measurement, and implications of "public opinion" have long been a source of debate. In this paper, we examine the extent to which the educational priorities of elites in the US reflect the educational priorities of the American public. To do so, we focus on one particular segment of the education policy-making elite --…

The Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M), conducted under the aegis of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), was designed to inform policy and practice in mathematics teacher education. For educational policymakers, TEDS-M contributes data on institutional arrangements that…

Structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews are often used in mixed method studies to generate confirmatory results despite differences in methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. A review of 19 questionnaire-interview comparison studies found that consensus and consistency statistics were generally weak between…

This action research study was conducted for purposes of changing the formal evaluation for school administrators to one constructed around the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) 2008 standards, inclusive of multifaceted components aimed to increase the active participation of both the evaluator and the individual being…

In an effort to better understand the factors associated with college persistence and attrition, the Survey Research Center at Princeton University, with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is conducting the College Student Attrition Project. As part of that project, Mathematica Policy Research conducted the College Experiences Survey.…

The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) is the fifth in a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) secondary longitudinal studies. The core research questions for HSLS:09 explore secondary to postsecondary transition plans and the evolution of those plans; the paths into and out of science, technology, engineering,…

The "2004/06 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/06)" is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to respond to the need for a national, comprehensive database concerning issues students may face in enrollment, persistence, progress, and attainment in postsecondary education and in consequent early rates of…

The nine-volume Survey Kit is designed to help readers prepare and conduct surveys and become better users of survey results. All the books in the series contain instructional objectives, exercises and answers, examples of surveys in use, illustrations of survey questions, guidelines for action, checklists of "dos and don'ts," and…

This methodology report documents the design, development, and psychometric characteristics of the assessment instruments used in the second wave of the ECLS-B. The assessment instruments discussed measure children's cognitive development (BSF-R), socioemotional functioning (Two Bags Task), security of attachment (TAS-45), and physical development…

Twenty-eight papers were presented covering numerous aspects and ramifications of personnel evaluation research methodology in military training. Attention was focused on such concerns as job analysis, testing of knowledge and performance, predictive ability of biographical inventories and psychiatric interviews, course evaluation techniques,…

The 11 papers in this volume were presented at the 1996 American Statistical Association (ASA) meeting in Chicago (Illinois), August 4 through 8. This is the fourth collection of ASA papers of particular interest to users of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) survey data published in the "Working Papers" series. The…

The authors have written this manual to aid workers in the Cooperative Extension Service of the United States to be better able to understand and apply the principles and methods of evaluation. The manual contains three sections which cover the nature and place of evaluation in extension work, the evaluation process, and the uses of evaluation…

This text provides directors of instructional programs with an extensive overview of the evaluation process. In 25 chapters, the contents focus on the definition of evaluation, a rationale for its use, a list of tools used in the evaluation process, a delineation of the elements contained in a well-done evaluation, and some suggestions on ways…