Effective teacher evaluations serve the dual function of being both summative and formative (Danielson & McGreal, 2000). The current evaluation tool in Virginia uses a traditional approach of incorporating standardized test scores as forty percent of a measure of teacher effectiveness. By way of a literature review, this article applies a…

ORS 327.016 directs the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to prepare an annual report on English learner program funding and student outcomes. The report's intention is to describe the population of English Learners in Oregon and provide a summary of district and state progress towards meeting their needs and objectives. The ODE annually…

Extension Master Gardener Volunteers (EMGVs) are recruited and trained to answer questions and diagnose gardening problems for the public. Most states have developed an EMGV Manual for use in the initial training. Thirty-two EMGV Training manuals from across the United States were reviewed for form and content. While many of the manuals have…

Many Medicaid programs have either fully or partially carved out mental health services. The evaluation of carve-out plans requires a case-mix model that accounts for differing health status across Medicaid managed care plans. This article develops a diagnosis-based case-mix adjustment system specific to Medicaid behavioral health care. Several…

This article presents findings from an investigation of the overall effectiveness of Michigan's Freedom to Learn (FTL) One-to-One initiative. The major goal of the FTL initiative was to help students to gain 21st century knowledge and skills while increasing their learning and achievement through the integration of over 20,000 laptop computers…

The purposes of this study were to evaluate a federal and state-funded Family Caregiver Support Program (FCSP) and explore what types of caregiver support service are associated with what caregiver outcomes. Information was obtained on a sample of 164 caregivers' use of eleven different types of support service. Descriptive and comparative…

Because of the importance of developing highly skilled school leaders, statewide assessments of 784 Texas public school administrators were compared to determine how leadership skills varied by type of campus (urban, suburban and rural) and by campus student achievement ratings. Important findings indicate differences exist by campus type and by…

In this article, the authors discuss program evaluation of intervention studies when the outcome of interest is collected routinely at equally spaced intervals of time. They illustrate concepts using data from the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study, where the outcome is state per capita tobacco consumption. States differ widely in mean…

The new quality assurance system for nursing homes implemented by the New York State Department of Health in 1981 was compared to the previous system. The new system devoted more resources to on-site activities and identified more patient-care deficiencies and more repeat deficiencies. (SLD)

A survey of 42 statewide assessment programs was conducted to determine: (1) The status of statewide assessment programs in the United States when classified by purpose, authority, methodology, and scope; (2) Are there any differences within these classifications for programs which are aimed primarily at state-level decision making as opposed to…

This report provides figures for seven states of the cost of student transportation following desegregation. (Author/AM)

Describes an evaluability assessment of the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), a technology development program. Presents the steps involved in conducting an evaluability assessment, including development of an understanding of the program and its stakeholders. Analyzes and compares different methods by which the GRA could be evaluated. (SLD)

This research investigated the effects of two contrasting pre-k curricula, relative to practice as usual, on subsequent academic achievement. One curriculum had a strong literacy focus, the other was a less didactic "developmentally appropriate" curriculum that allowed children to have more influence on classroom activities. The purpose…

The evaluation plan for New York State's Children and Youth Intensive Case Management (CYICM) Program is described, which was introduced in July 1988. The CYICM Program is a statewide intervention focusing on keeping children with serious emotional disturbances in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs. It is a…

Recommendations designed to assist states in the creation of meaningful definitions of types of schools and students for use in the Council of Chief State School Officers' Education Data Improvement Project are presented. The Project's goals are to promote and facilitate the reform and refinement of the National Center for Education Statistics'…