With the Utah Educational Technology Initiative (ETI), the State has increased its commitment to educational technology. The evaluation of the Utah ETI is built around the concept of portfolio analysis, an evaluation method that incorporates the collection of diverse types of data and enables a number of types of evidence to be used to gauge…

This study of the effects of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) on the academic achievement of educationally disadvantaged students in grades 2 through 8 in four urban schools tested three hypotheses: (1) supplementary CAI programs are significantly more effective than non-CAI supplementary instruction approaches for disadvantaged students; (2)…

Work on the development of the intensive time-series design was initiated because of the dissatisfaction with existing research designs. This dissatisfaction resulted from the paucity of data obtained from designs such as the pre-post and randomized posttest-only designs. All have the common characteristic of yielding data from only one or two…

A one-year evaluation was conducted of the Exemplary Business and Office Education (BOE) Program as implemented in seven rural Colorado schools. The individualized program featured a two-period block core curriculum with three or more optional areas of study. Evaluation objectives were to describe the exemplary projects in light of the…

This guide is essentially designed as a teaching aid for those who would inform planners, officials of educational ministires, school administrators, principals, and teachers about educational outcome measurements. In outline and graphic form, the guide presents topics for discussion in a seminar dealing with generating outcome measurements:…

In seeking a better match-up between the mission and the resources of the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), its senior leadership has not only been examining their own responsibility areas, but also the entire Department and how its highly varied components fit together. The starting point for this discussion paper was the State Board of…

This is the fourth annual report to Congress by the US Department of Education. Among the highlights of this report are: (1) More students were reported by states as having enrolled in vocational and technical education courses in Program Year (PY) 2002-2003 than in the past three years; (2) There remain concerns about the quality and reliability…

This is the final report of the National Academy of Education's Panel on the Evaluation of the National Assessment of Education (NAEP) Progress Trial State Assessment. In this report, the Panel considers philosophical, technical, and policy issues concerning the NAEP in the immediate future and in the long term. The high technical quality of the…

Analyzes the use of relevant international data to inform educational policy. Notes that such data can be used to extend research on school effects by incorporating comparative data, by evaluating the trade-offs involved in attempts to raise national achievement levels, and by broadening the range of international data. (MJP)

Reports a study in a Chinese context of second language (L2) learner variables' relationship to English achievement. Findings reveal that six variables had direct effects on achievement, three of which existed previously, i.e., sex, and primary language and L2 proficiency; and three that were formed by clusters of strategies relating to vocabulary…

Data collected at three schools in California with programs for students of limited English proficiency (LEP) suggests that exit rates should not be the focus of evaluations of LEP programs and that schools cannot adequately answer questions about students' academic achievement and English language acquisition by program type. (SLD)

This study investigated factors influencing the drop-out rate of minority college students as compared to that of non-minority students. Data were collected via mailed questionnaire from 799 freshmen at the University of Missouri-Columbia, a residential, public research university in the Midwest. The questionnaire evaluated such factors as…

Indicators in this report assess the status of the nation's Great City Schools in relation to the National Urban Education Goals in 1992-93 and how they compare with their status in 1990-91. The National Urban Education Goals, based on the National Education Goals established in the Fall of 1989, address the unique and pressing needs of urban…

This study evaluated the first phase of a three-phase project to improve baccalaureate achievement rates of minority students in Colorado. The activities of the first phase included gathering more and better data on the progress of students, analyzing those data, and using that analysis to choose and visit institutions that seem to be succeeding…

This paper makes a case for the development of several indirect indicators of national progress in reaching the collegiate attainment objective of the National Education Goals of 1990. These indicators would be developed concurrently with a proposed performance-based assessment to be administered to a national sample of graduating college seniors.…