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…

Although the Delphi is widely used, research on certain methodological issues is somewhat limited. After a brief introduction to the strengths, limitations, and methodological challenges of the technique, we share our experiences (as well as problems encountered) with an electronic Delphi of educational program evaluation (EPE) in the Asia-Pacific…

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…

The purpose of this article is to extend the discussion of issues currently being debated on the need for more rigorous program evaluation in educational and other sectors of research, to the field of international development evaluation, reviewing the different approaches which can be adopted to rigorous evaluation methodology and their…

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 essay provides some background on, explanation of, and justification of a theoretical framework for all types of evaluation. This framework is used to connect and underpin the approaches of other contributors to this special issue. A core discipline of evaluation is proposed that ties assorted evaluation fields together. (SLD)

Unintended effects of evaluation are discussed, with reference to the Hawthorne Effect, where unintended effects overshadow the manipulations controlled by researchers. Unintended effects are categorized as (1) affective reactions; (2) political dimensions; (3) importance of individual differences; and (4) expectations concerning evaluation.…

This report documents the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) special pilot study of group assessment. In 1994, NAEP administered U.S. History projects to a limited number of students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of group assessment, and to gain practical experience in the design, development,…