The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies (NLS and NNS) represent a major government initiative to improve classroom practice and student learning in literacy and mathematics in elementary schools across England. National targets were intended to increase the percentage of 11-year-olds reaching the "expected level"--Level 4--in…

A collaborative publication between Harvard Family Research Project and The Finance Project, this brief offers guidance in documenting progress and demonstrating results in local out-of-school-time programs. Following introductory remarks providing a rationale for program evaluation, discussing principles of program evaluation, and clarifying key…

Considers the evaluation provision of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965. (RK)

Many institutions develop institutional goals, but few continue to the next step--assessing the extent to which the institution has achieved its goals. Some methods for assessing progress toward achieving goals are described.(MLW)

An evaluation of an elementary teacher education program using the responsive evaluation method is described. Responsive evaluation uses observer judgment and flexible data collection methods. The problems involved in each of the strategy's 12 steps are discussed and the influence of the university setting on the program is considered. (Author/MSE)

The article suggests that accuracy data alone provide insufficient information upon which to base instructional decisions, particularly for severely handicapped students. It discusses the merits of data that relate behavior to a time base. Characteristics of various time-based measures are described and data collection examples are presented.…

This paper reports a qualitative study of what difference it makes to the participants to have completed the Supported Work program. For the majority, Supported Work brought steadier jobs, higher wages and fringe benefits, increased self-confidence, and independence. (Author/CT)

The rising demand for accountability has had a great influence on the design and use of management information systems. The purposes of accountability, needs assessment, and program evaluation would be well served if a set of indlcators could include information about the outcomes of higher education. (MLW)

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…

This eight chapters of this special issue introduce the use of a template to specify program components as a new tool for program evaluation. The template articulates the components needed for program delivery and provides a systematic method for assessing program implementation. (SLD)

Many participant-satisfaction evaluation forms used in staff development programs are ritualistic contrivances that are poorly designed and administered. This article describes five rules for generating evaluation forms based on clarity, a decision focus, brevity, anonymity, and respondents' opportunity to make additional suggestions. Careful…

Shares the program-evaluation strategy of Pepperdine University's restructured Educational Leadership Academy for entry-level school administrators and other school leaders. Describes the objectives, theoretical basis, and methodology of data collection used for the evaluation. Describes the democratic/collaborative process used in developing the…

The REDSIL model for ongoing evaluation of gifted education programs involves interviewing stakeholders, isolating and categorizing critical study issues, designing a data collection plan that uses several forms of qualitative methods, implementing the plan, analyzing data, searching literature relative to each issue, analyzing data again, and…

Discusses the methodology and content of the evaluation of the Homeless Families Program. Focuses on data collection and the determination of program outcomes. Stresses the importance of stakeholder involvement and the flexibility of the evaluators as the evaluation unfolded. (SLD)

The paper discusses two common scenarios in which evaluators must conduct impact evaluations when working under budget, time, or data constraints. Under the first scenario the evaluator is not called in until the project is already well advanced, and there is a tight deadline for completing the evaluation, frequently combined with a limited budget…