The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been the subject of many evaluations during its history. Those evaluations are reviewed, focusing on external evaluations, and the influences of recommendations made in the evaluations are discussed. The report concludes that many of the recommendations of evaluators have been heeded by…

This book addresses the importance of the California Reading Initiative (CRI) to children who are struggling readers or who have reading disabilities. It notes the CRI focuses on disseminating information from research results and fostering teaching practices drawn from this research. This book emphasizes aspects of reading instruction for…

Most evaluation of faculty takes place at the end of a semester. Because results of this type of evaluation are not available until after the semester is over, an instructor has no opportunity to make changes to a course while it is ongoing. This paper explains how the practice of midsemester evaluation can provide instructors with a formative…

The evaluation conduct factor involves matters such as whether correct methodology is being used, whether the measurements used are philosophically consistent with the goals of the program, timeliness, and format of the evaluation report, and whether recommendations provided in the report are usable. This study analyzed the conduct factor in the…

The Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project (LAAMP) has several initiatives, including Parents as Learning Partners (PLP), that attempt to assist parents and schools to work collaboratively in order to increase student achievement. Using PLP, one of LAAMP's major parent engagement initiatives, as a model, this paper discusses using both…

The "CSE Program Evaluation Kit" is a series of nine books intended to assist people conducting program evaluations. This volume, the eighth in the kit, is divided into three sections, each dealing with an important function that quantitative analysis serves in evaluation: summarizing scores through measures of central tendency and…

The literature on the use of evaluative information in local education agencies is summarized. A general structure for studying evaluation use is presented. It is organized after the commonplaces of education (teacher, student, and subject matter). (BW)

Utilization should be defined according to the evaluation approach used and the purposes established for it. By developing a matrix that includes the dimensions of utilization and the various evaluation approaches, it is possible to plan and conduct evaluations that increase the likelihood of the desired type of utilization. (Author/LC)

Postmodern approaches to school-level evaluation by building on the fourth-generation evaluation model developed by E. Guba and Y. Lincoln are suggested. It is argued that this conceptualization of evaluation has particular relevance for development of alternative evaluation practices among stakeholders that can improve the use of evaluation…

Discusses how functional analysis may be useful for determining the functions of all communicative behaviors, whether they are aberrant or not. Two case studies of children with autism are presented to illustrate the implementation of the three components of functional analysis: interviews, direct observation, and analog probes. (Author/CR)

Evaluators must use a flexible, open-minded approach oriented toward a holistic view of the implementation and operation of the program they are analyzing. The use of more than one methodology expands the potential findings and avoids the limitations of a unidimensional approach. (SLD)

Impact evaluation of two continuing education symposia gathered data from participant evaluations and follow-up interviews that assessed learning gains. The results were used to improve program promotion in four areas: copy for print and broadcast announcements, future program titles, speakers' reputations, and consideration of the nature of the…

Three business evaluation practitioners, representing the continuum from internal to external evaluation, respond to questions posed by three evaluation professors. The questions concern: the evaluator's role; evaluation methods; objectivity; and ensuring the evaluation's quality. The greatest difference between internal and external evaluators…

Randomly selected recommendations (N=176)--concerning performance evaluations of programs of public organizations--made by the General Accounting Office (GAO) in fiscal year 1983 were analyzed. Reasons for the exceptionally high acceptance rate (between 51 percent and 77 percent ) are discussed, including the GAO's status as a formal legally…

Chelimsky's five-part continuum--a model for the practice of evaluation in a political context--is reviewed. The model's conceptual framework and a question for education are discussed. By focusing on interactions between evaluators and policy actors, this model should prompt debates about unsettled issues in education policy making. (SLD)