Background/Context: In the early elementary grades, many students do not achieve literacy proficiency due to inadequate personalized literacy instruction (Taylor et al., 2010). Despite increasing evidence that differentiated instruction informed by assessments of students' reading abilities can improve learning more effectively than…

Community-based education programs must demonstrate effectiveness to various funding sources. The pilot study reported here (funded by CYFAR, NIFA, USDA award #2008-41520-04810) had the goal of determining if state level programs with varied curriculum could use a common evaluation tool to demonstrate efficacy. Results in parenting and youth…

In times of diminishing resources to support community programs, it is critical that Extension make every effort to show impact as collectively as possible for the variety of programs being delivered in individual counties and communities. The pilot study reported here (funded by CYFAR, NIFA, USDA award #2008-41520-04810), focused on outcomes in…

Making the program theory explicit is an essential first step in Theory Driven Evaluation (TDE). Once explicit, the program logic can be established making necessary links between the program theory, activities, and outcomes. Despite its importance evaluators often encounter situations where the program theory is not explicitly stated. Under such…

This study describes how multiple-measure teacher evaluations were put into practice in a set of ten volunteering local education agencies (LEAs) in Arizona. After a key shift in state policy, five "pilot" LEAs implemented the new Arizona Department of Education teacher evaluation model in the 2012/13 school year, while five other…

The state's Race to the Top (RTT) application requires changes to the state's evaluation/accountability system. It requires a teacher effectiveness measure, district effectiveness measure, leader effectiveness measure. Regarding the teacher effectiveness measure, RTT requires linking the data of individual students to individual teachers as part…

The infusion of online education has brought about significant changes within the traditional, brick-and-mortar schoolhouse. With an increasing number of students enrolling in online courses, administrators must identify more quality online educators to meet the needs of the students in their care. Hence, the focus of this study is to answer the…

Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC), located in Phoenix, Arizona, is part of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD). PVCC was founded in 1987 and in the fall of 2007 served 8,739 students in credit courses. Since 1997, PVCC has been on a quest to become a "more learning centered" college. As a result of placing…

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public university nestled below the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Arizona. It enrolls more than 21,000 undergraduate and graduate students at its main campus in Flagstaff, through its 35 statewide sites, and via online program offerings. Within the university organizational system, Student Affairs has a…

Ensuring that all Arizona children receive the high-quality education they deserve requires an effective teacher in every classroom along with school and district leadership that is focused on raising student achievement. Arizona's educators, from the classroom teacher to the district superintendent, are the most important component of the state's…

The goal of this study is to apply a conventional education cost-function approach for estimating the sensitivity of cost models and predicted education costs to the inclusion of school district level racial composition variables and further to test whether race neutral alternatives sufficiently capture the additional costs associated with school…

Each spring, Arizona students participate in testing as part of the state's assessment program. Elementary and middle school students in grades 3 through 8 take the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards--Dual Purpose Assessment (AIMS DPA) in reading, writing, and mathematics. These tests serve as an important measure of student achievement for…

The Division of Adult Education in the Arizona Department of Education and the Arizona Adult Literacy and Technology Resource Center contracted with the Morrison Institute for Public Policy to develop an evaluation system for Arizona's adult education program. During phase I, the institute analyzed existing program data on Arizona's adult…

This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of Assessing One and All (AOA), a Web-based teacher professional development program. AOA was designed to enhance teachers' assessment literacy and skills in general and inclusive educational assessment practices. Fifty-five teachers from Arizona, South Carolina, and Wisconsin participated…

In Head Start, family service workers facilitate the process for guiding and assisting families in securing services needed for specific family issues regarding health care, housing, employment, education, and/or crisis management. These services were particularly important to families following Hurricane Charley and the subsequent recovery…