This paper examines the effect of a formal evaluation process upon educational change--specifically, the adoption of innovative reading programs and practices--at different organizational levels of implementation. Because of the size of the project (62 school systems, 142 designated schools, three sets of categorical funded projects), the…

This paper describes the experiences of Colorado Springs School District Eleven in using multiple measures to determine if third graders were reading at "grade level." The use of multiple measures may be threatened by the rapidly increasing pressures about assessment and accountability in Colorado that teachers are beginning to feel that…

Answers criticisms by Mary Anne Bunda, Ernest House, and Mary Kennedy. Discusses, among other issues, legal authorization for the use of higher quality evaluation designs and the use of evaluation research results. (GC)

Suggestions for enhancing use of evaluation studies (i.e., state-level mental health programs) are presented. Steps for maximizing evaluation utilization include marketing, planning, and conducting the evaluation; developing/focusing policy questions; translating findings; and making people pay attention to the results. These are processes for…

The Evaluation of Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) systems was designed to provide the U.S. Department of Labor information on how states are designing, implementing, and operating their worker profiling and reemployment services systems for dislocated workers and to compare the effectiveness of different state approaches to…

The overall objective of the project described in this report was to assess the impact of research, exemplary projects, and associated technical services, sponsored by Kentucky's Research Development Unit (RDU), on Kentucky vocational education during the 1970 through 1975 period. Six major sections are included. The introduction presents an…

Maryland's School Improvement Through Instructional Process (SITIP) program involved 24 local education agencies (LEAs) in implementing one or more research-based instructional models: Active Teaching, Mastery Learning, Student Team Teaching, and Teaching Variables. A summary is presented of: (1) descriptions of each of the instructional models;…

This report describes the technical assistance rendered to the NIE-sponsored R&D Utilization Program (R&DU) by the contractor working with the NIE staff, the Center for the Study of Evaluation, and the seven R&DU projects, to develop cross-project instrumentation, develop mutually acceptable plans for data collection and analysis, and…

Characteristics of evaluative studies used by California state legislators are discussed: specificity in addressing particular policy decisions; factors which contribute to or hinder the accomplishment of educational objectives; balanced studies with a range of indicators; and attention to local concerns, and to fiscal and legal issues. (MH)

A statewide sustained effort to improve student learning in Missouri by adopting and adapting promising research-based educational practices is described. The concept of an Instructional Management System (IMS) with desired learner outcomes determining both instruction and testing was suggested to local school districts beginning in 1980. In 1985,…

Using the Ohio Technology Transfer Organization (OTTO) as its primary example, this paper offers a strategic planning perspective on technology transfer and human resources development. First, a brief overview is provided of the maturation of mission priorities and planning processes in higher education in the United States, followed by a…

Whereas the question included on handicapped children in the 1965 school census in Madison (Wisconsin) yielded incomplete results, the 1966 school census employing a questionnaire identified 314 handicapped children not in school. Of these, 50% were enrolled in an educational program, 52% were male, 58% were preschoolers, and 42% were aged 6 to…

The School Improvement Through Instructional Process (SITIP) Program, initiated in Maryland in 1980, was concerned with improving classroom and school activities through the application of process-product research on classroom and school effectiveness. All 24 local education agencies voluntarily implemented one or more of four research-based…

A framework is presented that relates concepts of audit reliability to the uses of information gathered from a discrepancy program audit of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title IV-C programs in Florida. Three issues are addressed: (1) the meaning of reliability in relation to the audit process; (2) the importance of reliability of auditor…

There is a continuing need in evaluation research for the establishment of a relationship between evaluation findings and decision making. A method is proposed for a particular situation: annual funding decisions for projects in a large grant program in vocational education. Outcome and predictive impact variables were ranked by three groups of…