Researchers and policy makers are increasingly dissatisfied with the "average treatment effect." Not only are they interested in learning about the overall causal effects of policy interventions, but they want to know what specifically it is about the intervention that is responsible for any observed effects. In the U.S., using…

Purpose: In far too many cases the initiatives to change schools by introducing new programs, processes and reforms has not resulted in obtainment of the desired outcomes. A major reason for limited outcomes suggested in this paper is that there has been a failure to learn from and apply constructs and measures related to understanding,…

Sufficient attention and resources have been allocated to design-based research (DBR) to warrant review concerning if and how its potential has been realized. Because the DBR literature clearly indicates that this type of research strives toward both the development of an intervention to address a problem in practice and empirical investigation…

The AISD Afterschool Centers on Education (ACE Austin) program provided academic assistance, enrichment, college and career readiness, and family engagement activities at six elementary and four middle school campuses through Cycle 9 funding through the Texas Education Agency. ACE Austin was found to have a positive impact on students' academic…

The Afterschool Centers on Education of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Austin Area (ACE BGCA) provided academic assistance, enrichment, college and career readiness, and family engagement activities at four elementary, three middle, and two high schools through Cycle 10 funding through the Texas Education Agency. ACE BGCA was found to have a…

This technical assistance paper provides policy and guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. The Florida assessment policies and guidelines presented in this paper are appropriate for state and federal reporting. Therefore, guidance and procedures regarding the selection and use of appropriate…

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (subsequently renamed the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS) was created by ACT 1375 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The first college freshman class to receive TOPS awards entered postsecondary education in the fall of 1998. ACT 1202 of the 2001 Regular Legislative Session…

The District of Columbia (DC) Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) is the only federally funded program that provides vouchers to low-income families to send their children to private schools. Congress created the OSP in 2004 and reauthorized it in 2011 under the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act. As part of the 2011 SOAR Act,…

The Texas Education Code (§ 29.051) requires school districts to provide every language minority student with the opportunity to participate in either a bilingual or English as a second language (ESL) program. This evaluation report summarizes the performance of students who participated in the district's Dual Language Bilingual Program. Included…

The CEFR encourages teachers to resort to task-based activities in the language classroom. However, some resistance has been offered to this approach, due to lack of appropriate training and difficulty in meeting some basic practical conditions, as well as in finding resources and examples of good practices, as shown in a survey conducted within…

Leadership theory is one of the most complex groups of theories to teach management students; nevertheless, it is the one of the most interesting and often desired topics to learn from students. Many organizations are seeking soft skills that are commonly discussed in leadership theory such as building relationships with followers, taking…

Assessing student learning is a critical element in today's higher education environment. Learning assurance programs seek to assess and improve the quality of student learning, and may employ both direct and indirect measures. In this paper, we describe a practical learning assurance assessment measure developed and used as a part of a broader…

In order to construct and evaluate the validity argument for the Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS), based on Kane's framework, we conducted a systematic review. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, Web of Science, Scopus, and selected reference lists through February 2013. Working in duplicate, we selected…

We describe a participatory co-learning exercise that can help elucidate and navigate the unique perspectives of farmers, researchers, Extension personnel, and other agricultural professionals engaged in managing complex systems. We developed the exercise to help a diverse advisory panel collaboratively identify and prioritize ecosystem services…

Background: This article reports on an evaluation of four family support programmes in Ireland for families of people with a physical or an intellectual disability or autism. The focus of the evaluation, which took place within a year of the programmes' completion, was on establishing whether the programmes had an impact on families' capacity to…