A companion report provided a summary of what was learned from surveys of principals and staff developers about the newly created position of staff developer in the middle schools of the San Diego City Schools, California. This study investigated the spring followup study that asked teachers what they thought about the new position and the work of…

This digest summarizes the highlights of an analysis of assessment practices used in education and professional development for educators. A research team from RAND conducted a broad review of the literature and reviewed the documents of organizations engaged in such assessments. Researchers interviewed experts, attended conferences, and conducted…

How academic programs might go about making evaluation more useful, thus making critical reflection more likely, is the central purpose of this book. The chapters are: (1) "The Concept of Academic Quality"; (2) "Motivation for Quality Work"; (3) "Evaluating Quality in Academic Programs"; (4) "Creating the Engaged Department"; (5) "Negotiating…

The Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers for Technology grant at Morehead State University, Kentucky, was designed to have an immediate, simultaneous impact on the education of teacher candidates, professional development of university faculty, and curriculum reform. In the third year of the grant (2002-2003), evaluation focused on the integration of…

When museum professionals speak of evaluating a web site, they primarily mean formative evaluation, and by that they primarily mean testing the usability of the site. In the for-profit world, usability testing is a multi-million dollar industry, while non-profits often rely on far too few dollars to do too much. Hence, heuristic evaluation is one…

A third wave of school reform, originating in the United States, has arrived in the Pacific region. The first wave, which occurred in the 1980s, resulted in increased teacher salaries, core-subject requirements, and an expanded academic calendar. The second wave led to improved teaching conditions, with greater emphasis on professional development…

This chapter presents a review of what is known from evaluation studies about the impacts of professional development programs in mathematics and science education, and their role in systemic reform. Following comparisons of program focus, structure, target population, and geographic scope, an overview of program goals is presented in terms of the…

Early Head Start (EHS) is a comprehensive program providing intensive services from before birth to age 3 to promote improved outcomes in child, family, staff, and community development. The third of a 3-volume series designed to share the experiences of the 17 EHS programs participating in the Early Head Start National Research and Evaluation…

This paper and its "Executive Summary," separately published, are intended primarily for Chief State School Officers and their immediate staff members involved in statewide accountability policy development and implementation. The paper addresses certain key issues and contains a full exploration of the related technical aspects of…

The enabling legislation required a review of the Technology Workforce Development Grants program by an external expert evaluation team on a biennial basis. This program was designed to increase the number of engineering and computer science graduates and the number of collaborations among higher education institutions and private companies. At…

This evaluation plan, which is updated annually, provides a synthesis of the various evaluation activities of Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL). During 1999, the fourth year of the Laboratory's contract period with the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, special studies and integrated studies were designed to…

Between 1990 and 1997, 159 schools in New York were classified as Schools under Registration Review (SURR), but by 1997 54 of these schools had improved enough to no longer be classified as SURR. Seven of the schools had reorganized or closed, and 98, 94 of which were in New York City, were still classified as SURR. An audit was conducted to…

Constructivist approaches to mathematics instruction based on the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) have been widely advocated and are expanding in use. However, many educators express a need for constructivist approaches that provide specific student materials, assessments, teachers' manuals, professional…

The "CSE Program Evaluation Kit" is a series of nine books intended to assist people conducting program evaluations. This volume, the first in the kit, provides an overview of evaluation activities and a directory to the rest of the kit. Chapter 1 explicates the evaluation perspective that grounds the kit and describes the role of evaluation in…

This volume is the third in a projected six-volume series called "Agenda for Excellence at the Mid-Level." It describes a process that school administrators can use to conceptualize, plan, execute, and utilize the results of a school assessment, allowing them to take a snapshot of their school. It outlines a set of alternative procedures to be…