Assessing the quality of education is a vital stipulation for all graduate programs that aim to secure and bolster their current rank among similar programs. Program evaluation is usually carried out by parties not directly related to a program. In other words, outsiders evaluate programs. Insiders who have first-hand experiences and impressions…

Students in a master's-level graduate course in school counseling program evaluation conducted a qualitative research study to investigate school counselors' experiences with evidence-based program delivery and evaluation. We discuss the study's findings that illuminated themes of challenges faced by school counselors with implications for…

Teacher preparation programs have both a desire and a responsibility to demonstrate, with affirmative evidence, that teacher education makes a difference in PreK-12 student learning. Program faculty need good data to make decisions about the progress of students, whom to recommend for state licensure, and how to improve teacher education. This…

This article describes original research to determine reasons graduate students do not complete requirements for a Master's (M.Ed.) in Middle Level Education degree at the Southeastern University. Since the program's initial cohort the graduation rate has decreased. Program faculty was concerned about the increasing difference between the number…

Student feedback collected through program evaluation of secondary education licensure and Master's program clinical experiences prompted us to conduct a collective self-study. We used a reflective framework for analysis and discussion of the shifts students in our courses made as they progressed from observers to practicing teachers. Along with…

This article describes the lessons learned during the implementation of a new master's degree program for K-8 teachers. The program's goal was to increase student inquiry and sense making in mathematics and science classrooms. Each of the twenty-four teacher participants reported strong satisfaction with the program, and a variety of measures…

The internationalization of distance learning in special education is at a pivotal point in expansion. Even with concerted efforts through traditional means to increase the supply of special educators, shortages persist; therefore, teacher preparation programs are turning to online education. This dissertation study was a formative program…

This article is an outgrowth of the evaluation and assessment process in a large interdisciplinary studies (IDS) program at West Virginia University. We argue for the importance of collecting and assessing quantitative and qualitative data concerning learning outcomes, student satisfaction, career choice and development, and graduate education…

This dissertation was designed to determine reasons graduate students do not complete requirements for a Master's in Middle Level Education degree at the southeastern university. Since the program's initial on-campus cohort (2000) the graduation rate has decreased from 80% to 62.96% with the fourth on-campus cohort (2005). The current cohort…

Arguing that photo-interviewing yields richer data than that usually obtained from verbal interviewing procedures alone, it is proposed that this method of data collection be added to "standard" methodologies in instructional development research and evaluation. The process, as described in this paper, consists of using photographs of…

Challenges of collecting and using photographic evidence and photo-interviewing to evaluate technology infusion programs in higher education are discussed. A five-phase study for using photo-interviewing is presented, using evaluation of a hypermedia workshop attended by 1 instructor, 1 graduate assistant, 26 graduate students, and 1 art…

The Asian Tsunami struck Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004. Sri Lanka was the second worst affected country after Indonesia, and this natural disaster killed in excess of 35,000 people and displaced over 1 million. The article explores the Tsunami Disaster Management Program developed by one Sri Lankan university: the Postgraduate Institute of…

Evaluators usually assume that the data they receive are valid, or at least, that the data reflect that which is being evaluated. In a recent evaluation in a large southern school district, evaluators compared their raw interview notes with interview notes edited by the teachers interviewed or project staff. The program evaluated was Project SEED,…