In this article we provide a critique of the interpretation and utilization of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results by the National Education Authorities in Turkey. First, we define and explain what OECD's PISA is. Second, we make an overview of the media coverage in Turkey of the PISA 2003 and 2006 results. Third, we…

From the 1980s to the present, educational accountability in the United States has grown dramatically. Such accountability in U.S. school districts, although driven primarily by external demands, has internal manifestations as well. The chapter traces the historical development of internal evaluation in American school districts, then highlights…

Public organizations charged with coordinating higher education institutions face a complex set of tasks. Whether coordinating institutions within one sector or across sectors, such organizations play vital roles in promoting a state's capacity for policy leadership to meet the growing need for an educated citizenry. National experts have…

An analysis of the process by which the results of research and evaluation studies are utilized in the formation of educational policy is the purpose of this paper. Based on a case study of a large urban public school's implementation of a dress code policy, four interrelated factors are identified that affect policy formation and data…

Few analyses have examined what testing's political status means for how those outside the education establishment view externally mandated tests and what they expect them to accomplish. This article provides such an analysis by first elaborating on the notion that testing and accountability have become political issues. It then describes the…

The politics of program evaluation are discussed from the personal perspective of the Director of the General Accounting Office's Program Evaluation and Methodology Division, which has produced reports for committees of the United States Congress. It is concluded that successful evaluations must be useful to others and must understand the…

This study of evaluation utilization identified organizational, political, and practical arrangements facilitating the wide use of "The Interim Report Evaluation" in policymaking for California's Early Childhood Education Program. In a program fraught by tensions, where evaluations had been political tools, this evaluation was special.…