This brief provides a basic review of process evaluations, also known as formative or implementation evaluations. It describes what a process evaluation is, why process evaluations are important, when they should be used, and how they can be a useful tool for out-of-school time program practitioners. The brief also focuses on guidelines,…

How does one design an on-line course to bridge theory and practice? How can the feedback of on-going stakeholder (student and administration) be incorporated into the design process to enhance quality? This paper presents the theoretical underpinning of designing an on-line management course recognized as best practice for a "well organized…

It is familiar in the world of systems building that funders start out saying they are not particularly interested in attribution, only to later begin using words like "prove" and "impact." Boards begin by asking for intelligent reflection from the 30,000-foot level and then suddenly want to know how many more children are ready for school.…

Are the five states that are participating in the Great Start project, in fact, off to a Great Start? The simple answer from a casual read of this excellent case study appears to be "yes." Any early learning initiative that begins with a scientific evaluation is off to a great start. Sadly, some public and private funders have begun early learning…

This article is an outgrowth of the evaluation and assessment process in a large interdisciplinary studies (IDS) program at West Virginia University. We argue for the importance of collecting and assessing quantitative and qualitative data concerning learning outcomes, student satisfaction, career choice and development, and graduate education…

This article describes a fifth year program evaluation of a private provider program for teacher certification in Louisiana. The study sought to evaluate the success of the Teach Louisiana Consortium program in terms of teacher placement, teacher retention, administrative satisfaction, teacher attitudes, and teacher pedagogical knowledge. Initial…

Many medical students use exchange programmes to enrich their portfolio. However, such a confrontation with reality can be challenging because custom and practice sometimes differ radically between countries. Exchange students post specific peculiarities, as encountered by them abroad, onto the medical exchange website. They can ask for the…

Students in science and engineering (S&E) are preparing for careers in fields where international partnerships are increasingly important to advancing knowledge and discoveries. It has been over a decade since the National Science Board (NSB) highlighted the importance of international collaboration and called for increased government…

Exploiting a statewide cutoff point on the placement examination used to assign students to remedial courses in Tennessee, this study employs a regression discontinuity research design to provide causal estimates of the effects on student outcomes of recently redesigned remedial courses at three Tennessee colleges. Moreover, using data on student…

In 2010, the declining birth rate among teenagers in the United States reached an historic low, and since 1991, the rate has declined 44 percent. Though this trend is promising, 372,252 teens nevertheless became mothers in 2010. That same year, 41 percent of all births were to unmarried women. Moreover, in 2010, 15 percent of the U.S. population…

This resource is a compilation of three documents that support the teaching of spelling in today's schools: a discussion of "Why Spelling Instruction Matters", a checklist for evaluating a spelling program, and tables of Common Core State Standards that are linked to spelling instruction. "Why Spelling Instruction Matters"…

As the only federal funding stream that provides dedicated funds for afterschool programs across the country, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative plays an important role in supporting the innovation that takes place in afterschool programs. Social innovation has been defined as "a novel solution to a social…

As part of the evaluation of the Strategic School Funding for Results (SSFR) project, American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted surveys of principals, teachers, and members of School Site Councils (SSCs) to gather information on the attitudes and perspectives regarding the implementation of key components of the SSFR model in Twin Rivers…

This study investigated a sample of community college faculty who participated in an online professional development program. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between participating in an online professional development program and changes in participants' self-assessed knowledge about tasks associated with effective…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of an institution-wide leadership development model on students at a private Christian university. The university being studied in this research made a significant commitment to the principles of servant-leadership as well as Kouzes and Posner's (2002) Leadership Challenge development…