From my personal point of view, the role of a program evaluator is to gather information about the thoughts and experiences of individuals impacted by the program and to use the findings to inform program improvement. However, participants in the evaluation may be reluctant to share their full thoughts due to factors such as power imbalances and a…

This quantitative correlational study dives into the heart of understanding the significance of model fidelity for implementing school threat assessment teams. The target population was instructional staff and threat assessment team members from schools in Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester Counties in New York State that use the Comprehensive…

Theory of change (ToC) is currently "the" approach for the evaluation and planning of international development programs. This approach is considered especially suitable for complex interventions. We question this assumption and argue that ToC's focus on cause-effect logic and intended outcomes does not do justice to the recursive nature…

An increasing number of parents are opting-out their children from high-stakes. Accountability systems in education have used students' test scores to measure student learning, teacher effectiveness, and school district performance. Students who are opted-out of high-stakes tests are not being evaluated by the state tests, making their level of…

This article presents a method for using mind mapping to assess social learning outcomes in collaborative environmental restoration and participatory natural resource management initiatives. Using mind mapping for preassessment and postassessment can reveal changes in individual and collective thinking about critical social and ecological issues.…

As participation in online learning continues to expand, higher education institutions must implement policies and procedures to ensure quality at the course, program, and institution levels. In this paper, the authors describe a process that the State University of New York (SUNY) System implemented, utilizing the OLC Quality Scorecard, to help…

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…

Across the U.S., youth development approaches are being tested in out-of-school time programs as a strategy to combat the growing opportunity gap between privileged and underprivileged youth (Gardner, Roth, & Brooks-Gunn, 2009). Along with increased recognition of the value of youth development programming has come increased financial support…

As states across the country continue their implementation of the Teacher Performance Assessment Portfolio (edTPA), a complex and high-stakes certification requirement for teacher certification, there are important lessons for educators and education advocates to learn from New York State's implementation. As Linda Darling-Hammond, developer and…

The New York State's School Library Media Program Evaluation (SLMPE) rubric provides a window of opportunity for a librarian to talk with his/her administrators about library program elements that may be out of the librarian's control. There are three areas of focus on the SLMPE Rubric: (1) Teaching and Learning; (2) Building and Learning…

Career and technical education (CTE) is increasingly seen as a major potential contributor to the recovery of the U.S. economy. However, the effectiveness and impact of the current Carl D. Perkins Act (otherwise known as Perkins IV) that governs CTE are unclear. Is the federal investment in CTE paying off? To answer this, we need to establish the…

New York's Cornell University spends millions of dollars and thousands of staff and volunteer hours to produce more than 1,400 events around the world each year. That's one event every six hours. Is it worth it? Do the 40,000 alumni, parents, and friends who attend feel closer to Cornell after these events? Do they disengage because Cornell didn't…

This article is about the changes in educational reform that have adversely affected teachers and their principals. With the new evaluation system, teachers and school leaders will be evaluated partially on student success. Other educational reforms include the discontinuing of New York State Regents Exams in January and in August. A…

In this article, the authors provide an overview and critically analyze three successful faculty-developed urban K-12 science outreach programs. They consider a successful outreach program as one that has been sustained for at least five years after initial funding, and has provided empirically-based research findings from the program.…

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) sent a research team to New York University (NYU) on December 8-9, 2008 to conduct interviews with individuals who play important roles in the university's teacher preparation program. These interviews, along with additional documentation provided by NYU and identified by the AED research team, provide…