Evaluation activities in China are examined, focusing on housing reform. How evaluation functions in justifying the political initiatives of the Chinese Communist Party is explored, and the possibility that evaluation research can become an academic field in China using Western methodology is discussed. (SLD)

Reports that a goal and item analysis of eight history and systems of psychology textbooks and their accompanying test item files showed that the majority of the essay test items are too narrow in scope to measure the commonly stated course goals. Presents some integrative and goal-relevant essay questions to rectify this shortcoming. Includes a…

Explores some reasons why information and communication technologies are difficult to evaluate. Discusses 10 reasons why information technologies require new evaluation approaches. Discusses two ways to look at any educational innovation: in terms of its uniform impact and its unique uses. Notes inequities in access to technology. (SR)

States that there is a sizeable following of peer mediation as an approach to conflict mediation in schools. Even with strong empirical support, its future is tenuous in the ebb and flow of educational emphases. Whether peer counseling is a fad or sound pedagogy will be determined by reliable research and not by the fickle nature of educational…

Describes practitioner-researchers and uses 24 articles from "Journal of Academic Librarianship" by academic librarians to illustrate research methods and a set of seven steps common to research that are also applicable to practice-based problem solving and project work. Highlights include action research; case study research; evaluation…

Examines the results of instruction in administering the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) in three teacher training programs. Focuses on the examination of the scoring of the IRI in simulation exercises by preservice teachers after instruction in the administration and scoring of the IRI. Concludes that the preservice teachers did not accurately…

Describes a study involving 1,343 community college students, which examined the relationships between the Cultural Literacy Test (CLT), developed by E.D. Hirsch, and several academic factors: grade point average and first-semester grades in remedial and regular English, history, and government courses. Emphasizes the clinical usefulness of the…

Argues that increased student self-assessment accuracy might result in better academic performance by allowing students to modify their exam preparation more realistically. Uses an experiment with practice examinations to demonstrate the causal link between more accurate self-assessment and performance. Notes implications for the construction of…

Discusses Internet use by undergraduate students at the University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom) to develop research evaluation skills through independent research. Highlights include what students used the Internet for; how often they used it; time absorbed by access; rating the Internet; student views; and access to the Internet. (LRW)

Describes some of the ways in which the federal government has decentralized responsibility for national evaluations of federally-funded early childhood programs. Details the methods used in local evaluation studies, and the strengths and weaknesses of centralized and decentralized national evaluations. (Author/KB)

This article presents the results of focus groups conducted with participants following the completion of a Child Welfare Practice Certificate Program. Concept mapping was used as the guiding research method for the data collection and analysis. Social work students and child welfare workers generated statements during the focus group session that…

This article demonstrates how a user-friendly evaluation of a federally funded homeless prevention program using an action research approach -- and using a logic model as the analytic framework -- informed multiple stakeholders, including members of Congress, other decision makers, and Family Center practitioners. The program's target population…

While a large amount of interest has been shown in the use of peer and self-assessment, few studies have considered the effect of stress on the students involved. None have considered whether the resultant stress itself might account for any noticeable improvements in student performance. The research presented in this paper addresses this…

Statistical methods designed for categorical data were used to perform confirmatory factor analyses and item response theory (IRT) analyses of the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (FNE; D. Watson & R. Friend, 1969) and the Brief FNE (BFNE; M. R. Leary, 1983). Results suggested that a 2-factor model fit the data better for both the FNE and the…

Peace education initiatives often import American models and techniques without careful consideration of their fit with existing sociohistorical contexts, indigenous cultures, and necessary links to community. This article describes a 2-year project that instituted school- and community-based mediation programs as Community Peace and Safety…