The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evaluates research studies that look at the effectiveness of education programs, products, practices, and policies, which the WWC calls "interventions." Many studies of education interventions make claims about impacts on students' outcomes. Some studies have designs that enable readers to make causal…

A step-by-step method can determine whether training programs match the training needs as expressed by rated objectives. Trainers calculate the time devoted to each objective while the program users rate the importance of each objective. The match between importance and time is a measure of program efficiency. (LRA)

This guide provides a brief overview of the issues involved in the validation process. It was developed for evaluators of adult education projects, such as 310 projects. The guide is organized in three sections. The first section discusses the rationale for validation. The second section describes the characteristics of validation models. The…

The goal of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) is long-term employability. To obtain feedback on the effectiveness of JTPA programs in promoting retention in the labor force, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requires states and service delivery areas (SDAs) to collect information on the postprogram outcomes of JTPA participants. This…

Intended for policymakers, administrators, and others involved in determining how the efficiency and effectiveness of technical and further education (TAFE) should be measured, this monograph contains the following sections: (1) "Introduction," including a explanation of the origins of the push for performance indicators and the response…

Educational reform is becoming synonymous with accountability. However, designing an effective accountability system poses serious challenges for states as is clear from the progress and pitfalls experienced by states such as Texas, Kentucky, and California. For example, many states tend to overload their new accountability programs, resulting in…

This report reports activities of the Regional Information Exchange (RIE) program under the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research's Knowledge Dissemination and Utilization Program. An overview compares the RIE program with a National Diffusion Network unit--the Joint Dissemination Review Panel, which also focuses on…

The second of two related pamphlets, this guide describes how to design an outcome study and outlines procedures for collecting outcome data. After an introduction that delineates the purpose of the two-part series, the pamphlet is divided into four major sections. The first section explains how to select a cost-outcome analysis. The next three…

There is plentiful discussion about the importance of accountability, but much needs to be done to translate it into a manageable and credible system of ongoing feedback. In this book, evaluative inquiry is used in a way that balances attention between the investigation process and its purpose. The book is divided into three parts. Following an…

Despite their vital role in open-access, two-year colleges, remedial education efforts have increasingly come under attack by legislators and the public, who view such programs as duplicating the appropriate function of high schools, and who believe that limited state resources should be devoted to more prestigious programs. For a college to…