In "Holding Accountability to Account: How Scholarship and Experience in Other Fields Inform Exploration of Performance Incentives in Education"--a paper presented at the National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference in February--Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, argues educational…

This concluding chapter reviews some of the methodological issues that analysts need to consider when evaluating the success of character-development programs.

This review of the research on the evaluation of career education provides a review and synthesis of five major publications prepared for and/or published for the United States Office of Education and considers a number of problems and promises facing evaluators of career education in the eighties. Reviewed are reports prepared by Tuckman and…

In its evaluation of the effectiveness of driver education as taught in secondary and commercial schools, this report (1) investigates the objectives of driver education, (2) determines what is presently known about its effectiveness through a review of previous evaluative research, (3) discusses what driver education is likely/unlikely to…

A study was conducted to develop a theoretical framework for unbiased estimation of the dynamic net impact of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs on participants' earnings. (The possibility of selectivity bias arises from the non-random nature of participation in the program. That is, if participation is a function of…

EVALUATING PROGRAMS FOR THE DISADVANTAGED IS DIFFICULT BECAUSE THERE IS NO CLEAR THEORETICAL OR OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF THE TERM "DISADVANTAGED." THE PROLIFERATION OF SCHOOL PROGRAMS ALSO CREATES EVALUATION PROBLEMS, FOR OFTEN EVALUATION TAKES PLACE BEFORE THE PROGRAM IS EITHER FULLY IMPLEMENTED OR HAS FUNCTIONED FOR A SUFFICIENT PERIOD OF TIME.…

It is often claimed that techniques such as "multimedia" and the use of blended learning environments can be used to achieve powerful interactive pedagogies. Indeed, the advent of easy-to-use multimedia technologies has meant that a plethora of digital learning products is now becoming available. Despite the relative ease-of-use of these new…

The actual impact of research and demonstration projects in vocational education is evaluated. Criteria for a reliable research design are specified regarding sample size, sample selection, control groups, and economic and educational benefit and cost evaluation. The impact of research and demonstration projects is analyzed in the areas of…

Effective schools research problems (unreliable descriptions and definitions, over-dependency on tests, research limited primarily to elementary schools) result in narrow formulas leading to increased standardization, neglect of nonacademic areas, and failure to improve in schools with high test scores. Author urges using broader, more complex…

Effective schools are typically defined as those schools which improve or maintain already-established high levels of student achievement. A number of issues and research needs are raised which relate to the identification of effective schools. Unless the nature of "effectiveness" can be described and agreed upon, researchers face the possibility…

Argues that methods of assessing effectiveness of university supplemental instruction (SI) programs (in which successful students provide additional instruction to students in high-risk courses) have been inadequate. Suggests ways of isolating SI effects on student achievement, and recommends broadening research methods to include qualitative…

In an effort to review the effectiveness and the impact of the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) at El Paso Community College (EPCC) and to identify and report any significant problems with the quality of service being provided to the college president and other key policy and decision makers, an evaluation plan and survey test instrument…

Two reviews of NIE's study of compensatory education are provided in this document. The conclusions of the first reviewer (House) are that: (1) the study is valid because it meets the standards for the evaluation of a public program; and (2) the compensatory programs, especially Title I, are very good. Other conclusions are that the funds'…

Criteria for the evaluation of quality technical educational programs must be identified if follow-up studies are to be effective. Current research shows that problems in the development of such criteria include the tendency to evaluate programs on the basis of organizational structure rather than on the quality of the instructional program…

This paper presents a discussion of evaluation methods which can be used in preschool programs and emphasizes the importance of considering both outcome and process variables. Emphasizing the limitations of research which utilizes only outcome measures, the paper focuses on the benefits of an analysis of ongoing processes and interactions within…