As a result of the 1998 reauthorization of Head Start, the Department of Health and Human Services conducted a national evaluation of the Head Start program. The goal of Head Start is to improve the school readiness skills of low-income children in the United States. There is a substantial body of experimental and correlational research that has…

This "What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 3.0)" provides a detailed description of the standards and procedures of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The remaining chapters of this Handbook are organized to take the reader through the basic steps that the WWC uses to develop a review protocol, identify…

A number of potential threats to internal validity in true experiments are discussed. Programmatic research efforts proceeding from established correlational findings to experiments employing random assignment are described and used as referents in discussions of validity considerations. The collection of observational data is recommended for use…

It was hypothesized that instruction in descriptive geometry produces an increase in SRT scores. The resultant data do not firmly support this hypothesis. It is suggested that this study be replicated with the use of randomly selected control groups. (MS)

The three RMC models endorsed by the U.S. Office of Education for the evaluation of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I programs are based on narrowly conceived approaches to evaluation--the measurement of cognitive achievement gains. Each model requires the comparison of observed student performance with an estimate of what level of…

In order to make policy decisions, educators must evaluate educational research proposals and projects. Findings immediately related to practice are often inadequate, omitting the theoretical establishment of principles by which we can explain and predict the phenomena of our world. These theoretical linkages to the practical world of…