The problem of attrition often arises in longitudinal studies when the researcher is unable to gather follow-up information for a sizeable percentage of the study participants at one or more of the planned follow-up stages. Since non-respondents frequently differ in important ways from respondents, the findings based solely on the respondents are…

The first half of this monograph provides an overview of the theoretical concerns of evaluators. Definitions are provided of accountability, measurement, assessment, evaluation research, formative and summative evaluation, goal-free evaluation, goal-based evaluation, and evaluation. Several models of evaluation are described and discussed,…

To study the impact of school finance reform on minorities and the poor, researchers gathered data on educational revenues and spending, tax effort, district wealth and income, ethnicity, and urban location in California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas. Their data analysis used various measures of educational equity and fiscal…

The document contains the third annual update of a longitudinal study on the implementation of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, by 16 local education agencies (LEAs). An introductory chapter outlines the content of the report and the study design. Section II describes implementation of P.L. 94-142 in 16 special…

A study assessed the feasibility of conducting a national cost-benefit analysis of vocational education and presented recommendations for future research on the relationship between vocational education costs and benefits. Following an analysis of the state of the art in utilizing cost-benefit methodologies to evaluate vocational education, a…

This document reports the results of an exploratory study designed to create a typology of programs based on the normative and personalistic dimensions of experiential education. This preliminary typology is unique in that it represents a break-through in providing researchers a classification system theoretically based and empirically tested. It…

Illinois-funded Project IMPACT was designed to identify and develop procedures for complying with the impact requirement of Public Law 94-482, with regard to the effect of vocational education research and development on vocational education programs. The study addressed itself to three problem areas: (1) how to define impact, (2) how to assess…

A study was conducted to evaluate the admission criteria being used by the Connecticut Regional Vocational Technical Schools for the years 1977-1979, in an attempt to determine whether or not admission criteria and success in school could be used to predict second- and third-year grades. In addition, a pilot study was developed to follow up…

This booklet for educational and training planners is designed to increase understanding of labor market processes and thus to improve vocational education planning. As model illustrations, two local Massachusetts projects are described. The Worcester model, presented in chapter 1, is used by Boston University's Regional Manpower Institute to…

The purpose of this research was to develop methods to study the effects of context on children's comprehension and production of temporal terms such as "before,""after,""next,""then," and "but first." A longitudinal study, using naturalistic and traditional laboratory methods, and three…

Produced as part of the Targeted Outcomes Field Development Project, this handbook provides basic guidelines that can be used by community colleges for organizing and conducting community impact studies. An introductory chapter touches on the broad range of economic, educational, social, and technological impacts which community colleges have upon…

This interim report of a pilot year impact study on evaluation methodology is part of a series of documents on the evaluation of Project Developmental Continuity, a Head Start demonstration program aimed at promoting educational and developmental continuity between children's Head Start and primary school experiences. This report deals with…

This study examines the relative effects of information on problem solving. An introductory section discusses theoretical approaches to problem solving. The major portion of the paper describes the author's research. In her study, subjects were asked to read a court transcript from a criminal case, to give their verdict in the case, and to…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I Evaluation and Reporting System is a method for giving a federally funded project in reading or math an overall score on its cognitive effectiveness. This System introduced the Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) as an aid in aggregating Title I program scores across states and nationwide regardless of…

A broad spectrum of methodologies pertinent to studies of schooling effects are reviewed. Methodological issues and problems are addressed according to a three-dimensional conceptual framework: (1) indicators of schooling effects; (2) study approaches; and (3) units of analysis. Problems and uses of status attainment and difference scores as…