Extension educators are expected to conduct program evaluation. An Internet survey was sent to county 4-H educators in Ohio to examine their evaluation attitudes and practices, as well as barriers to conducting evaluation. Respondents indicated a range of attitudes about evaluation and limited use of different designs and methods. Having enough…

This article addresses a void in the literature about social work research and evaluation (R&E) designs, in particular related to the quality of its published work. Data were collected by reviewing three empirically oriented journals, "Research on Social Work Practice", "Journal of Social Service Research", and "Social Work Research" over three…

New Leaders for New Schools created the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) initiative in 2006 to learn from educators driving achievement gains in high-need urban schools. EPIC identifies school leaders and teachers whose students are making significant achievement gains and financially rewards these educators in exchange for sharing…

For both efficiency and equity reasons, student loans schemes have been introduced by several countries. Empirical work has been carried out in order to measure the effectiveness of these policies, but, with few exceptions, their results are not comparable because of their concentration on specific aspects. The present work suggests a…

A professional learning plan is the navigation system for the comprehensive professional learning system. Professional learning plans establish short- and long-term guidance for professional learning and its implementation. This workbook offers information and tools to walk educators through seven planning steps--from data analysis, to setting…

This paper considers the relationship between a professional development programme designed to bring about changes in teacher practice through iterative cycles of implementation and evaluation and associated changes in Indigenous students' educational performance. The paper does this by documenting the outcomes of the implementation of the Te…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to highlight the training factors that mostly affect trainees' perception of learning and training usefulness. Design/methodology/approach: A new research model is proposed exploring the relationships between a trainer's performance, training programme components, outcomes of the learning process and training…

Increasing numbers of empirical studies and theoretical frameworks for preventing sexual violence are appearing in the research- and practice-based literatures. The consensus of this work is that although important lessons have been learned, the field is still in the early stages of developing and fully researching effective models, particularly…

This article explains the relevance of the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages" (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio (ELP) to language learning in higher education, especially as regards the definition of aims and learning outcomes and the promotion of students' capacity to manage their own learning. After…

"The First-Year Seminar: Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Courses to Support Student Learning and Success," a five-volume series, is designed to assist educators who are interested in launching a first-year seminar or revamping an existing program. Each volume examines a different aspect of first-year seminar design or…

This paper presents some of the major issues raised in Education International's preliminary analysis of the overall PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009 study. Some of these issues are: (1) PISA has serious limitations. The study does not cover the full curriculum, focusing on a narrow set of subject areas, neglecting such…

Performance pay plans for teachers are a hot topic across the nation, so the country's largest program is bound to attract attention. But caution is advised. This is a state-sponsored program evaluation of Texas' most recent incentive pay program rather than research, and it suffers from two major constraints: data not collected and questions not…

The Governor's Educator Excellence Grant (GEEG) program is part of a long history of performance pay programs and policies in Texas. The GEEG program was state-funded and provided grants to schools to implement three-year locally-designed performance pay plans. During the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 school years, the GEEG program operated in 99…

As middle and secondary classrooms become increasingly inclusive, some special educators may not be prepared to teach content, and some general educators may not be prepared to address diverse learning needs. This mismatch between the reality of today's schools and traditional teacher preparation has led to the development of new models for…

Operational characteristics for successful mentoring programs of new university faculty include clarity of purpose of the program, methods for matching mentors and proteges, mentor training, mentor-protege relationship building, and program effectiveness assessment. Strengths of formal, informal, peer, group or consortia, intra-departmental,…