The terms "outcome" and "impact" are ubiquitous in evaluation discourse. However, there are many competing definitions that lack clarity and consistency and sometimes represent fundamentally different meanings. This leads to profound confusion, undermines efforts to improve learning and accountability, and represents a…

Considering the amount of funding that is distributed to educational research each year, leaders and policymakers have a vested interest in finding scientifically based evidence that answers causal questions regarding program effectiveness. The importance of program evaluation has long been recognized in many fields of research; however, the most…

In this article, I propose some new terminology and analytic tools that help us reflect on Israel educational activities with more sophistication. I analyze data from a four-week observation of a Jewish summer camp and new terminology is proposed from the analysis of the data collected during that observation. I argue that we may view Israel…

Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs) have advanced and matured, a number of states and localities have undertaken evaluations to validate the systems. Such efforts stem from the desire to ensure that the system is designed and operating in the ways envisioned when the system was established. Given that a central component in a QRIS…

This study used poems written by fifth graders to determine any differences in the quality of children's writing which might have been induced by the "broad exposure" approach to teaching poetry, the "analytical" approach, or the "non-exposure" approach. A story-writing pretest was given to 93 fifth grade children who were then randomly assigned…

The Strengthening Developing Institutions of Higher Education Program--under Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965--is evaluated. The program is intended to assist institutions struggling for survival and isolated from the main currents of academic life. More than 800 institutions had participated in this Office of Education (OE) program…

This document is intended to guide further education colleges and work-based learning providers through some of the commonly used tools, techniques, and theories of quality management. The following are among the topics discussed: (1) various ways of defining quality; methods used by organizations to achieve quality (quality control, quality…