This review essay describes in detail two recent publications: "Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms" (Centre for Educational Research and Innovation [CERI], 2005, Paris, OECD) and "Towards Coherence Between Classroom Assessment and Accountability" ("The 103rd Yearbook of the National Society…

In 2001, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began the process of redesigning the U.S. naturalization tests due to concerns that the current testing procedure may not be sufficiently uniform, and that the test content may not be appropriate. A National Research Council committee issued recommendations, based largely on the…

This paper details the challenges encountered by authors summarizing evidence from a primary study to describe a treatment's effectiveness using an effect size (ES) estimate. Dilemmas that are encountered, including how to calculate and interpret the pertinent standardized mean difference ES for results from studies of various research designs,…

Process evaluation helps us to understand the planning process. This predominantly qualitative approach explains how and why decisions are made and activities undertaken. The focus includes feelings and perceptions of program staff. The evaluator's ability to interpret and longitudinally summarize the experience of program staff and community…

We present a discussion of some of the lessons the investigators learned during the development and implementation phases of the Parents Matter! Program (PMP). Lessons were learned that are relevant to various groups involved in large scale, multi-site, community-based intervention studies: investigators, community leaders, community members,…

It is increasingly argued that the effectiveness of health promotion interventions should be measured to inform policy and practice. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) continues to be regarded as the "gold standard" of health services research but health promotion practitioners have raised concerns about the RCT's appropriateness for evaluating…

The launch of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) gives the education community opportunity to reflect on and discuss major issues that will affect the future well-being of the world. The goals and dreams of environmental education (EE) are similar to those of educators involved in education for sustainable…

This article introduces technology training designed for university professors who work with preservice and emergency teachers at a College of Education of a state university. The technology training was delivered in multiple ways: (a) large group workshops, (b) small group meetings, (c) individual mentoring, and (d) just-in-time training. Service…

When the most recent generation of community building initiatives (CCIs) was launched in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the field wanted to invest in and learn about the effectiveness of a kind of initiative that was meant to bring together the best of what had been learned during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s about how to go about promoting change…

This article presents a formative evaluation of a CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010 faith-based breast and cervical cancer early detection and prevention intervention for African American women living in urban communities. Focus groups were conducted with a sample of women (N = 94) recruited from each church…

Formative research uses qualitative and quantitative methods to provide information for researchers to plan intervention programs. Gaps in the formative research literature include how to define goals, implementation plans, and research questions; select methods; analyze data; and develop interventions. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood…

Almost every K-8 technology activity includes feedback. Technology teachers generally view the input-process-output paradigm as being incomplete. A step toward completion would be the inclusion of a "feedback" component incorporating reengineering. This article provides an example of how one activity evolved through several stages to include…

The Diagnostic Learning Log (Angelo and Cross 1993) is a focused journal entry where students indicate what they have learned from a particular unit, pose questions, indicate aspects of classroom practice they found helpful, and provide suggestions for facilitating their own understanding of the subject matter. The log provides an instructor with…

A conceptually sound, research-based method is presented to make sense of students' thinking about length. It is suggested that the levels of framework is an important tool for improving instruction and formative assessment as well as effectively diagnosing and remediating students' difficulties in learning about length. Some of the measurement…

As we celebrate the centennial of school social work, the field faces many of the same professional and social situations first encountered at the turn of the past century. Immigrant populations are growing rapidly, social worker-student ratios continue to be high, and schools remain bureaucratic, inflexible, and slow to change. The "Roaring…