Studies of small-scale "model" early-childhood programs show that high-quality preschool can have transformative effects on human capital and economic outcomes. Evidence on the Head Start program is more mixed. Inputs and practices vary widely across Head Start centers, however, and little is known about variation in effectiveness within…

Many different sources of input are available to assistive technology innovators during the course of designing products. However, there is little information on which ones may be most effective or how they may be efficiently utilized within the design process. The aim of this project was to compare how three types of input--from simulation tools,…

Class-size reduction (CSR) mandates presuppose that resources provided to reduce class size will have a larger impact on student outcomes than resources that districts can spend as they see fit. I estimate the impact of Florida's statewide CSR policy by comparing the deviations from prior achievement trends in districts that were required to…

This policy brief outlines how national education accounts (NEAs) are created, and why they are a vast improvement over current financial tracking systems in the education sector. Examples from the health sector illustrate the benefits of national accounts for improving public services, and their ubiquity highlights the poor state of affairs of…

Teacher preparation programs (TPPs) are where prospective teachers gain a foundation of knowledge about pedagogy and subject matter, as well as early exposure to practical classroom experience. Although competence in teaching, as in all professions, is shaped significantly by on-the-job experiences and continuous learning, the programs that…

This applied dissertation was designed to conduct a comprehensive program evaluation of a New Teacher Support Program (NTSP) in a Pacific Northwest school district. The district developed and implemented the NTSP over 3 years ago, but it had not been evaluated at the time of the researcher's study. An evaluation of the NTSP was necessary to…

The evaluation of government-financed research has become increasingly important in the last few decades in terms of increasing the quality of, and payoff from, the research that is done, reducing the cost of doing it, and lending public credibility to the manner in which research is funded. But there are very large differences throughout the…

The purpose of the study was to compare the practices used by HRD professionals to evaluate web-based and classroom-based training programs within seven Korean companies. This study used four components of evaluation to examine how HRD professionals evaluated web-based and classroom-based training programs in their organizations and compared the…

This research identified the costs and benefits of the sitter service in Scotland. A "sitter service" is one that provides home-based childcare outside the hours of 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM on weekdays and at weekends to support children of shift workers, single parents/carers and for children who require additional support. Nine sitter…

Described is the Empire State Office of Research and Evaluation multiple perspective strategy for evaluation of academic programs. The uncommon Studio Arts Program in New York City is used as a model. This program is politically as well as educationally important to the institution, which introduces internal and external pressures on the research.…

This document describes efforts to develop a planning-programing-budgeting system in a Kenosha, Wisconsin, school district of medium size. The PPBS is to be implemented in two phases: (1) an experimental program-oriented budget for the 1970-1971 school year, and (2) a 5-year plan to reevaluate and develop a program structure and program goals for…

Steps to be taken to "operationalize" evaluation, i.e., to make evaluation work, are discussed and applied to the Unesco program of functional literacy. Evaluation is seen as an important social concern, as well as a field of study and an area of competence. Four types of evaluation applied to the Unesco program are context evaluation,…

The Planning, Monitoring, and Implementation Model (PMI) was developed to provide a model for systematic evaluation of educational programs to determine their effectiveness in achieving goals and objectives. This paper demonstrates the applicability of the PMI model at the project level. Fresh Start Minischool at Ballou High School (District of…

The problem of educational evaluation, the various types of evaluation, and the different kinds of models of evaluation systems are discussed in some detail. The educational needs of the students, staff, community, and the Philadelphia Title I schools, as agreed by members of the evaluation team, are listed. A taxonomy of Title I evaluation is…