Two challenges often associated with teaching program evaluation at the graduate level are the need to incorporate practical skills development and being limited to a one-semester-long course offering. The existing literature provides some information concerning a practical application component; however, there is almost no discussion of pedagogy…

This article describes an educational program evaluation conducted by Dr. Eric Barela. Barela is a senior educational research analyst with the research and planning division of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). He joined the division as an urban education research fellow and has been an internal evaluator with LAUSD for almost six…

Not later than this winter, the National Research Council plans to release its assessments of American doctoral programs. Due to its inability to wait for the results, Ohio State University took steps last year to review its doctoral programs. Of its 90 doctoral programs, the university found five programs tagged as "candidates for…

Traditional methods for preparing systematic reviews and syntheses of effectiveness studies rely on a limited set of methodological criteria to include studies that measure and report effects too narrowly to forward the mission of evidence-based practice. This article discusses why and how the criteria for study selection, evidence screening, and…

This dissertation is an analysis of student and teacher conceptualizations of reading and learning in two separate scripted reading intervention environments, as implemented in a combined junior/senior high school in the Midwest. The youngest participants (grades 7-9), with reading levels four to six years below grade level, as defined through…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), this paper applied optimal propensity score matching method to evaluate the effects of Head Start on children's kindergarten retention, reading and math achievement in fall kindergarten comparing with center-based care. Both parametric and nonparametric…

Distance education initiatives that incorporate interactive television are explored from the perspective of two social work programs. Though both programs are of similar size and exist in the same state, one is private and located in an urban area, while the other is public and located in a rural area. Four key dimensions essential to distance…

The Fordham Institute conducted a survey of experts who are advocates of private education, soliciting opinions about how private schools accepting public monies, such as from voucher programs, should be held accountable. The experts were in agreement that private schools should not accept regulation of their day-to-day operations, but disagreed…

The "Rehabilitation Act of 1973," as amended (the "Rehabilitation Act"), provides the legislative basis for programs and activities that assist individuals with disabilities in the pursuit of gainful employment, independence, self-sufficiency and full integration into community life. This report is intended to provide a…

This article examines the power analyses for the first wave of group-randomized trials funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. Specifically, it assesses the precision and technical accuracy of the studies. The authors identified the appropriate experimental design and estimated the minimum detectable standardized effect size (MDES) for each…

Doctoral education in the United States had been scrutinized because of high-attrition rates reported as an average of 50 percent. Emerging from Lovitts (2001), this research examined students' attendance at Mock Orals (MO) and its relationship to their academic and social integration, cognitive maps, goals, rates of attrition, and retention in a…

This article describes the use of an online survey tool called Survey Monkey, which can be used by school social workers and school social work educators for evaluation of practice, needs assessment, and program evaluation. Examples of questions are given. Principles of writing good survey questions are described. (Contains 2 tables and 1…

Athletes can be involved as role models and leaders--in collaboration with coaches and other staff--to enhance life skills and prevent substance use among their peers. "Drugs in Sport" is a peer education program involving collegiate athletes visiting middle schools to speak with school children. This article discusses the structure of the Drugs…

"Targeted mentoring" refers to mentoring aimed at a particular population. This article presents the evaluation of a mentoring program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in social work education. Forty-three mentors and proteges responded to a survey regarding their program experiences. The results highlight the need for…

This research evaluated the effectiveness of the Public Child Welfare Certification Program, a specialized child welfare program delivered in bachelor of social work (BSW) curricula across the state of Kentucky. This evaluation gathered data for 10 years on satisfaction with the program, preparation for work in the state's child welfare agency,…