The PREPS (Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools) consortium in Mississippi is described. The article discusses the consortium's purpose, the role of university researchers, what kind of research is conducted, function of the PREPS staff, PREPS membership, the kinds of problems that PREPS addresses, and suggestions for developing…

Analyzed psychometrics of a package of standardized scales used to assess mental health treatment outcomes in a VA cost-effectiveness study (N=451). Derived the following scales: family involvement, involvement with friends, labor market participation, symptomatology, substance abuse, client satisfaction, and client goal attainment. (LLL)

A student evaluation of teaching in an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program was designed and implemented without formal validation. This study addressed the usefulness of the previous evaluation and whether the questions were the most valuable for students and faculty, especially for the improvement of teaching. An interview…

Harvard Family Research Project's series of "Out-of-School Time Evaluation Snapshots" distills the wealth of information compiled in the Out-of-School Time (OST) Program Evaluation Database into a single report. Each "Snapshot" examines a specific aspect of out-of-school time evaluation. This "Snapshot" describes instruments used by current OST…

This executive summary presents program evaluation outcomes for the Core Course component of the Schools Attuned Program. Core Courses occurred in sites across the United States, Canada and in Zurich, Switzerland throughout 2004. Analyses are based on information from the Schools Attuned Participant Core Course Survey and Schools Attuned…

For more than a decade, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) has supported demonstration programs designed to identify interventions that work with populations at high risk to prevent substance abuse, delay its onset, and reduce substance abuse-related behaviors. Research now…

Many educators believe that comprehensive school reform (CSR) holds real promise for improving schools, as many CSR programs are based in research and have documented success. However, in the past year, there has been increased emphasis on CSR programs' evidence of effectiveness and scrutiny of CSR evaluations' degree of rigor. Questions exist…

This booklet is designed to assist schools or school systems in analyzing and evaluating student writing, writing instruction, and the writing program. The basic assumption is that improving the writing program needs to be a school-wide effort coordinated across K-12 grade levels, not an individual or isolated effort. After an overview and advice…

This paper synthesizes a 1-day workshop held in Israel in May 1997 on behalf of the National Council for the Child with the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation and attended by representatives of projects and organizations involved in promoting early childhood development. The goal of the workshop was to help participants design and carry…

Assessment of welfare gains from a targeted social program can be seriously biased unless the endogeneity of program participation is addressed. Bias comes from two sources of placement endogeneity: the purposive targeting of geographic areas, and the targeting of individual recipients within selected areas. Partial decentralization of program…

This document is comprised of the 1997 issues of a quarterly newsletter of the Harvard Family Research Project, designed to share new ideas and experiences in evaluating systems reform and comprehensive child and family services. The first issue focuses on evaluation methodology and includes articles on the following topics: (1) mixing evaluation…

This evaluation report contains information on the teacher professional development (Teacher Reading Academies) and the Accelerated Reading Instruction program. According to the report, the evaluation design utilized case study research, survey research, focus groups, and analysis of administrative data and student information in producing the…

Program evaluation is about measurement, but it is also about making meaning of those things quantified. This booklet aims at providing guidance for school library media specialists in doing both. It offers brief comments about each of the following areas and provides some concrete tools for the evaluator's use when needed: Organization…

Looping is an instructional design whereby students progress to the next grade level with the same teacher(s) for two or more years. This book was designed to help teachers and administrators explore, implement, and evaluate looping programs. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1, "Exploring Looping Configurations," identifies the primary…

Increasingly, public officials in California and across the nation want to know, or at least be reassured, that public investments in what had traditionally been called university outreach programs are having desired effects on student achievement and college preparedness among targeted student groups. For the most part, such programs are now…