This article highlights several issues related to the collection of post-release outcome data in the evaluation of correctional education programs and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods of collecting data related to recidivism, employment/earnings, and further education/training. The use of traditional follow-up in…

Lifestyle Education for Activity Program (LEAP) was a comprehensive, school-based intervention designed to promote physical activity in high school girls. The intervention focused on changes in instructional practices and the school environment to affect personal, social, and environmental factors related to physical activity. Multiple process…

The Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) is a randomized, multicenter field trial in middle schools that aims to reduce the decline of physical activity in adolescent girls. To inform the development of the TAAG intervention, two phases of formative research are conducted to gain information on school structure and environment and on the…

Curriculum-based measurement is a system for monitoring students' progress and formatively evaluating instruction backed by 25 years of validation research. Most of this research has been conducted in elementary schools. In middle and high school classrooms, where there is an emphasis on mastering content knowledge, elementary-level measurements…

In this theoretical paper the informal assessment practices of two experienced teachers are used as cases for generating questions about future developments in formative assessment practice. Both teachers maintain a consistent formative assessment focus on the development of their students as enquirers, and one of them supplements this with…

Self-managed learning groups are regularly used in higher education. However, there is little direct evidence as to strategies that can enhance their efficacy, or the factors that influence students' engagement with the process of self-management. If students are expected to manage their out-of-class collaborative learning experiences, then…

"Learning how to learn--in classrooms, schools and networks" (LHTL) was a major school based development and research project within the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme. As such it was expected to work towards fulfilment of TLRP aims to work for improvement in learning outcomes, in authentic learning and teaching contexts,…

A growing number of school districts in the United States are introducing formative assessment systems to measure student skills in core subjects throughout the year. The underlying logic is that providing teachers with timely information on student skills will enable them to improve instruction and better prepare students to excel on high-stakes,…

Group-randomized trials (GRTs)--studies that evaluate the efficacy or effectiveness of interventions occurring at the group level--are increasingly used to assess the effects of school-based prevention programs on behavioral outcomes of children and adolescents. These designs pose many implementation and design challenges for school…

The usefulness of authentic assessments as formative tools for teachers is well documented and supported. However, when educational institutions use these assessments as summative tools for evaluating programs and meeting accountability needs, several problems emerge. One set of problems relates to the difficulty of fitting authentic assessments…

The purpose of the Elementary Technology Demonstration Schools (ETDS) Project, funded by IBM and Apple, Inc., was to demonstrate the effectiveness of technology in accelerating the learning of low achieving at-risk students and enhancing the education of high achieving students. The paper begins by giving background information on the district,…

The National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP) is a training trust established by an industry trade association and a union to maintain the supply of well-trained competent elevator mechanics. The NEIEP conducts Train the Trainer seminars that present a skill-building program to give each instructor a range of techniques and strategies…

This chapter examines the potential pitfalls in evaluating the effectiveness of gifted education programs and applies recent trends in the assessment and maintenance of quality in industrial applications. Evaluators are encouraged to avoid the temptations of bad evaluation which may appear to offer simpler alternatives to complex tasks but…

Hypermedia applications have presented information through a variety of visual media, but the aural channel for information delivery has not been well developed. To reduce the likelihood of overloading the visual channel of communication in a program that presents a great deal of information through graphic illustration and animation, the…

The manual is designed to help Peace Corps language teachers design simple evaluation procedures that will: (1) help them select appropriate classroom activities; (2) encourage students to self-monitor their progress and take responsibility for learning; and (3) give insight into student aptitudes. An introductory chapter examines the relationship…