Using data strategically to guide decisions and actions can have a positive effect on education practices and processes. This facilitation guide shows education data teams how to move beyond simply reporting data to applying data to direct strategic action. Using guiding questions, suggested activities, and activity forms, this guide provides…

Despite the growing volume of research on data use systems or data use activities in which teachers engage, micro-process studies--investigations of what teachers and others actually do under the broad banner of "data use" or "evidence-based decision making"--remain substantially underdeveloped. Starting with a review of the…

Using a set of scenarios derived from actual evaluation studies, this simulation study examines the reported influence of evaluation information on decision makers' potential actions. Each scenario described a context where one of three types of evaluation information (large-scale study data, case study data, or anecdotal accounts) is presented…

The evaluation conduct factor involves matters such as whether correct methodology is being used, whether the measurements used are philosophically consistent with the goals of the program, timeliness, and format of the evaluation report, and whether recommendations provided in the report are usable. This study analyzed the conduct factor in the…

This paper reviews empirical research conducted during the past 15 years on the use of evaluation results. Sixty-five studies in education, mental health, and social services are described in terms of their methodological characteristics, their orientation toward dependent and independent variables and the relationships between such variables.…

Proposals satisfy a number of functions in evaluation work. This article examines how these functions differ depending on whether the proposal concerns a preordinate study in which methods are prespecified or an emergent study in which decisions about methods are made as the study proceeds. (Author/SLD)

The seven chapters of this special issue explore problems in how to better understand the reasoning process that is used to establish evaluative conclusions. The many unanswered questions about reasoning should stimulate further investigation of the meaning of sound evaluative reasoning. (SLD)

Continuing the interchange of ideas about evaluation methodology, the authors argue the advisability of using the entire array of methods to produce useful and persuasive findings. There is, ultimately, a truth to be sought, but no one approach has a monopoly on finding it. (SLD)

This paper explores the impact that the evaluation industry has had on the development and implementation of social policy and programs, primarily as carried out by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. In addition, major tools evaluators have developed and used, and the institutional arrangements through which they have…

This book contains a series of papers presented at an Israel-American seminar on Educational Evaluation. Sol Kugelmass describes strategies employed to increase the utilization of evaluation results in the process of formulating educational policy. Nachum Blass illustrates the relationship between evaluation and policymaking by discussing an…

One problem faced by researchers is the selection of the most appropriate research method or methods, given the context of the research setting. This dilemma does not concern the choice of the best research method given the program objectives or research questions, nor the selection of the best state-of-the-art methods. The issue concerns the…

Although scholars and policy analysts both value quality-controlled collections of research results, they evaluate research according to different criteria. Nevertheless, an examination of a pessimistic fictional research experience and a more productive actual experience indicate that, although differences in focus between scholars and policy…

This book contains 24 essays addressing higher education evaluation and published in the International Journal of Institutional Management in Higher Education between 1979 and 1986. They are as follows: "The Evaluation of Higher Education: An Introductory Note" (Maurice Kogan); "Allocation of Public Funds on Instructional Performance/Quality…

An overview is presented of decision-oriented educational research, based on experiences in a large urban school district and on the literature. Alternative definitions of research use and evaluation use are discussed, with particular attention to the dissemination of research outcomes. (GDC)

Although methodological integrity is not the sole determinant of the value of a program evaluation, decision-makers do have a right, at a minimum, to be able to expect competent work from evaluators. This paper explores five areas where evaluators might improve methodological practices. First, evaluation reports should reflect the limited…