Higher education professionals often are tasked with providing evidence to stakeholders that programs, services, and practices implemented on their campuses contribute to student success. Furthermore, in the absence of a solid base of evidence related to effective practices, higher education researchers and practitioners are left questioning what…

Programs that improve teaching effectiveness represent a core strategy to improve student educational outcomes and close student achievement gaps. This article compiles empirical values of intraclass correlations for designing effective and efficient experimental studies evaluating the effects of these programs. The Early Childhood Longitudinal…

A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a voluntary state assessment system that uses multidimensional data on early childhood education programs to rate program quality, support quality improvement efforts, and provide information to families about the quality of available early childhood education programs. QRISs have two components:…

This article presents the analysis of evaluation methods used in a well-designed and comprehensive evaluation effort of a significant Extension program. The evaluation data collection methods were analyzed by questionnaire mode and timing of follow-up surveys. Response rates from the short- and long-term follow-ups and different questionnaire…

Residential environmental education centers (REECs) have been criticized for their lack of quality program evaluation. However, the last national study done on the practices of REECs was Chenery and Hammerman's (1985) research. This article presents the results of a national survey of directors of REECs (n = 114) that gives insight into the…

The Success By 6® (SB6) initiative is designed to support early care and education centers in improving and sustaining quality in Pennsylvania's Keystone STARS Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). The SB6 evaluation report examines implementation and outcomes. The findings have implications for SB6 continous quality improvement process…

With the increasing demand for accountability of Extension programming, Extension professionals need to apply rigorous evaluation designs. Randomized designs are useful to eliminate selection biases of program participants and to improve the accuracy of evaluation. However, randomized control designs are not practical to apply in Extension program…

The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of an online reading teacher and literacy instructor training program. A mixed-method research design was used in conjunction with the improvement-focused model of program evaluation to help the researcher identify strengths and weaknesses of the program. Overall, data showed the…

This article describes how to design program assessment for mathematics departments, in two-year and four-year colleges across the Midwest, based on a set of components that was generated from a Delphi survey. An example is provided to illustrate how this was done at a small four-year college. There is an alignment between these components and a…

This qualitative study identified key factors associated with exemplar service-learning programs at six community colleges across the United States. The purpose of this case study was to determine why these programs have sustained over time and to better understand how administrators and faculty meet shifting demands for service-learning. The…

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…

As the procedures of evaluation research have developed during recent years, it has become clear that the results of evaluation studies have failed to provide policy decision makers with useful information. An approach towards designing and implementing more useful evaluations--the stakeholder survey--is discussed. Stakeholders are individuals, or…

Employing a split-half design, this research examines the effects of prior letters, in conjunction with a follow-up telephone survey, on three factors affecting evaluation results: contact rates, response rates, and respondent cooperation. Prior letters did not increase contact, improve cooperation, or decrease refusals. (Author/LMO)

A consumer-oriented program evaluation of a master's level clinical psychology training program is reported. A goal attainment model of evaluation was employed, requiring specification of program goals, development of goal-related objectives and hypotheses, and formulation of recommendations for program modification based on results achieved.…

Advocates that the Current Population Survey (CPS) be redesigned to permit valid longitudinal studies, that the CPS include questions to evaluate poverty programs, that a common sampling framework be designed for the CPS and operating agencies serving the poor to assure that links between CPS and other data can be established, and that samples of…