The nine articles of this special section focus on the role of evaluation in the reform of the mental health system in Washington. The reform process is described from its inception through its design to the dissemination and utilization of evaluation results. The final article considers implications for statewide evaluations. (SLD)

The paper discusses the process whereby a system of teacher evaluation was established in Chile through a lengthy and complicated process of negotiations between the three main institutions concerned: the Teachers' Union, the Association of Chilean Municipalities (managers of the public school system) and the Ministry of Education. The process is…

The Government White Paper "Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation" (1999) provides a clear indication that accidents are a serious public health problem and have been targeted by the Department of Health as a key area for prevention over the next 10 years. School-based injury prevention programmes have been identified as one of the key…

Background: Many of the agent-based products available to education today have been largely confined to games and instructional media that are often produced commercially by non-instructional professionals. Most of them lack customizability and are difficult to integrate into individual subject curriculum. With more agent authoring tools available…

The impact of standards-based reform on students with disabilities has been a topic of considerable concern in recent special education literature although scant information has been reported from the school system level on this issue. Recognizing that a key element in ensuring that students with disabilities are successfully involved in a…

"Learning how to Learn--in classrooms, schools and networks" is a four-year, multi-site project funded under the Economic and Social Research Council Teaching and Learning Research Programme and concerned with the development of formative assessment practice. This article describes how analysis of a large double-scale questionnaire…

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a blended learning resource in the biosciences, created by combining online learning with formal face-face lectures and supported by formative assessments. In order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching large classes with mixed student cohorts, teaching was delivered through…

The development and use of Oregon's Proficiency-Based Admission Standards System (PASS) are described and results of some evaluations of the PASS system are presented. PASS is to be used for college entry in Oregon and is designed to promote the seamlessness of high school and college education by guaranteeing that students would have the…

This report, the first in a series of six, was developed during Phase II of California's Educational Technology Programs. School-based educational technology projects that were assessed for the study were funded in 1989-90 and implemented in 1990-91. The results from the following staff-developed assessment instruments and evaluation procedures…

By December of the 1992-93 school year, 433 children were being served by the Chapter 1 Prekindergarten Program of the Saginaw, Michigan school district. A process evaluation was conducted to monitor the program and assess whether the program was being implemented as planned. The process evaluation consisted of a half-day classroom observation in…

Results of a process evaluation of dropout prevention programs in the Leon County (Florida) school district during the school year 1989-90 are presented. Altogether, 11 dropout programs were operationalized in that school year. The methodology used for developing a problem survey among teachers and administrators, the results of the evaluation,…

This paper reflects on the author's participation in two government-sponsored educational software development projects that used a holistic design paradigm in which classroom formative assessment and teacher input played a critical role in the development process. The two project were: R-WISE (Reading and Writing in a Supportive Environment)--a…

This paper describes an ongoing program of collaborative school evaluation that involves student teachers, teachers, local authority representatives, and university teachers/researchers working in partnership in schools across a region in southwest England. Focus is on showing ways in which collaborative school evaluation, based on an action…

This paper describes the research agenda at Technology Based Learning and Research (TBLR) at Arizona State University, whose primary research mission is to provide information to guide the development and subsequent application of its technology based instruction (TBI) products. It is noted that the research question at the heart of the agenda is…

An integrated curriculum offering regular high school science courses as well as special interdisciplinary courses at the learning disabled, average, and advanced ability levels, and courses and internships in health professions was implemented in a Kansas City high school. A formative evaluation of the Southeast Health Professions Magnet High…