Evaluating teachers' professional development initiatives (PDI) is one of the main challenges for the teacher professionalisation field. Although different studies have focused on the effectiveness of PDI, the obtained effects and evaluative methods have been found to be widely divergent. By means of a narrative review, this study provides an…

As a result of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002, the field of education has seen a heavy emphasis on the use of "scientifically based research" for designing and testing the effectiveness of new and existing educational programs. According to NCLB, when addressing basic cause and effect questions scientifically based…

A central commitment for professional development schools (PDSs) is to link preservice teacher preparation and in-service teacher professional development with improved learning outcomes for pupils. PDSs are expected to improve student achievement in two primary ways: (1) by enriching and intensifying the learning environment through professional…

This is a critical review of methodological issues in the evaluation of adult literacy education programs in the United States. It addresses the key research questions: What are the appropriate methods for evaluating these programs under given circumstances. It identifies 15 evaluation studies that are representative of a range of adult literacy…

Treatment integrity (also referred to as "treatment fidelity," "intervention integrity," and "procedural reliability") is an important methodological concerning both research and practice because treatment integrity data are essential to making valid conclusions regarding treatment outcomes. Despite its relationship to validity, treatment…

This special series focused on treatment integrity in the child mental health and education field is timely. The articles do a laudable job of reviewing (a) the current status of treatment integrity research and measurement, (b) existing conceptual models of treatment integrity, and (c) the limitations of prior research. Overall, this thoughtful…

Purpose: The use of e-learning is largely predicated upon the assumption that it can facilitate improvements in student learning and therefore can be more effective than conventional techniques. This assumption has been supported by some in the literature but has been questioned by a continuing body of contrary or indifferent evidence. The purpose…

Background/Context: Although the importance of facilitating transfer from community colleges to 4-year institutions is almost universally accepted, there is little consensus on how to measure transfer success or evaluate policies aimed at assisting students in making this educational transition. Despite the increasing attention on transfer in…

Documenting treatment integrity is an important issue in research and practice in any discipline concerned with prevention and intervention. However, consensus concerning the dimensions of treatment integrity and how they should be measured has yet to emerge. Advances from three areas in which significant treatment integrity work has taken…

The concept of treatment integrity cuts across a diversity of fields involved with providing treatments or interventions to individuals. In medical treatments, the concept of "treatment compliance" or "treatment adherence" is an important and problematic issue. In the field of nutrition, the concept of "dietary adherence" is important for…

This report discusses an oversight investigation of the Department of Education's Publication and Audio Visual Council (PAVAC) and its successor, the Publications Review Board (PRB). Background information is provided about the review process for publications and products; the Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA) program; educational laboratories…

The author responds to Pinnell et al's (1996) call for caution in using cost-benefit analysis in measuring educational reform success. It is argued that reform already is being sold to state legislators and educators in cost-benefit terms and that research has been inappropriately used in the selling process. (GR)

Responds to Hiebert's 1994 article in Educational Researcher in which she criticized Reading Recovery (RR) advocates for failing to base RR's success on an adequate cost-benefit analysis. The authors suggest reliance on the informal judgements of local administrators rather than using administratively difficult, large-scale, cost-benefit analyses…

This article summarizes the findings of the National Research Council (NRC) report "On Evaluating Curricular Effectiveness" and examines the reviews in middle grades mathematics undertaken by the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The NRC report reviewed and assessed 147 key evaluations of 13 National Science Foundation-supported K-12 mathematics…

On February 3, 2003, the Bush Administration unveiled its request to cut funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program by 40 percent in fiscal year 2004. This date also marked the administration's release of When Schools Stay Open Late: The National Evaluation of the 21st-Century Learning Centers Program, First Year Findings, the…