The evaluation design described was used to aid the governing board to reach a policy decision about expanding the California Early Childhood Education program (renamed the School Improvement Program) in the Lafayette School District. Descriptions of procedures, question formats, audiences involved, and results are included. (MH)

Objectives of Title I evaluations are to document: (1) use by local staff and parents; (2) other types of information used by local staff and parents in judging and in improving their program; and (3) implications of these findings for the current Federal Title I evaluation strategy. (Author/RL)

This paper discusses problems associated with the application of experimental methods to program evaluation, proposes an alternative approach (program-attribute scaling), and reports the procedure and results of a trial application of the alternative approach. (Author)

Flexner's report on the procedures, agents, and effects of medical school accreditation emphasizes common sense and unstructured observation, rather than objective social science. Flexner would probably declare that lay people, rather than the National Education Association or the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, should…

Interpretation, assimilation, and adjustment to the Utah Career Ladder Program and the extent to which these responses reflect fundamental changes in the structure of teacher work were assessed. Promotional positions and differentiated salaries--distinctive features of a career ladder--were being compromised at all levels of the system. (SLD)

The activities and results of a comprehensive three-year evaluation of Utah's Title IV-C programs are summarized. They demonstrated that evaluation can produce valuable outcomes in addition to complying with federal requirements. State officials gained insights into program improvement; local officials gained expertise in program operation and…

An evaluation research capability was used to document the design and implementation of two programs in a large urban school district. This paper describes the research context, the origins of the role of resident evaluator, the broad functions of this role, and factors contributing to the usefulness of this approach. (BW)

In a consideration of how competition among schools affects program quality, the dynamics of competition among four Jewish supplementary schools were examined over five years. Some competitive strategies reduced program demands, and others reinforced quality. The least intensive and least expensive program did not undercut the others but did spur…

Case studies describe the changes occurring in a large urban school system following passage of the Hawkins Stafford Amendments allowing the use of Chapter 1 funding in schoolwide projects (SWPs) in schools where 75 percent or more of students are economically disadvantaged. The potential of SWPs is discussed. (SLD)

Implementation of schoolwide projects in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) illustrates some of the conceptual problems associated with the Hawkins Stafford accountability amendments to the Chapter 1 supplementary education program. Unintended negative consequences are discussed, and recommendations are made to overcome these problems, including the…

Budgetary and fiscal data from 11 school districts of varying wealth in New Jersey suggest that, in the first year of the state's Quality Education Act, the law has only modestly increased fiscal equality, with only minor cuts in funding in wealthy districts and some program improvement in poorer ones. (SLD)