This report is based on several evaluations of NSF-funded geoscience projects at Stony Brook University on Long Island, NY. The report reviews the status of K-12 geoscience education, identifying challenges posed by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the experiences of university faculty engaged in teacher preparation, state…

African American and Black women are twice as likely to enroll in higher education in comparison to Black men. However, when it comes to engineering degrees awarded in 2015, only 24% of the Black recipients were women. A potential solution may be to introduce engineering to pre-college Black female students through extracurricular program. Being…

This report was requested by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA), Office of Education in July 2009 to evaluate the Informal Education Program. The goals of the evaluation were twofold: (1) to gain insight into its investment in informal education; and (2) to clarify existing distinctions between its informal education…

Evaluation reports increasingly document the degree of program implementation, particularly the extent to which programs adhere to prescribed steps and procedures. Many reports are cursory, however, and few, if any, fully portray the long and winding path taken when developing evaluation instruments, particularly observation instruments. In this…

In evaluating its science program, an independent New Jersey school was successful in using the model developed by the National Study of School Evaluation. (MD)

This document contains a critical analysis of Project Learning Tree (PLT). PLT was developed and distributed in the mid-1970s. It consists of 2 activity guides, one for grades K-6 with 89 activities and another for grades 7-12 with 88 activities. The program also provides free workshops for teachers and others. The analysis of PLT includes the…

Reviews studies which focused on various aspects of pre-college student science training programs, pointing out that the programs have had impact on such areas as facilitating academic and career opportunities, increasing subject matter competencies, increasing laboratory skills, changing attitudes in a positive direction, and enhancing students'…

Describes the Bridges program which aims at forming bridges between teachers and students within districts and extending those bridges across district boundaries in the Los Angeles area while enhancing science instruction in the classroom. Discusses the planning, implementation, evaluation, and summary of the program. (JRH)

Outlines a sociocultural perspective on program evaluation consistent with sociocultural views of knowing and learning. Perspective is characterized by rigorous use of multiple-choice tests, performance assessments, and event-based analyses; a dialectical approach to conflicting conclusions from individual assessments and between individual and…

National Science Foundation reports provided criteria for identifying 54 exemplary science programs in the United States. Questionnaires and school visits showed programs characterized by locally developed curricula, less emphasis on textbooks, and outstanding teachers (average age: 51 years; degree: M.A. 30). (PB)

This document contains papers from a series of Evaluation Forums of the National Science Foundation. The titles are: "Education Program Evaluation at NSF: What Difference Does It Make?" (D. E. Chubin); "Interagency Efforts to Review and Evaluate Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Programs Through the Federal Coordinating Council…

The use of computers in science assessment is examined for six considerations: (1) purpose of computer use in assessment; (2) value of program evaluation models; (3) possible harmful side effects of assessment; (4) nature of imbedded questions; (5) definition of treatment; and (6) computers and the classroom context. (LZ)

Investigated were operative comprehension differences between 239 sixth and eighth grade pupils in activity oriented science programs and 249 students in a textbook oriented science program. Results indicated no differences among sixth graders, but activity oriented eighth graders scored higher than textbook oriented students. (SL)

Reports the results of a survey that assesses the breadth of implementation of environmental education in local public schools, the integration of environmental education within the existing school curriculum, and the impact environmental education has had on the school. (DDR)

Principals can improve programs by becoming science advocates (to teachers, students, and parents), constructing and pushing a science curriculum plan, ensuring annual funds for science materials, providing needed inservice experiences, monitoring the program, and handling likely problems. A 73-item checklist is provided for evaluating current…