Educational reform is becoming synonymous with accountability. However, designing an effective accountability system poses serious challenges for states as is clear from the progress and pitfalls experienced by states such as Texas, Kentucky, and California. For example, many states tend to overload their new accountability programs, resulting in…

There is plentiful discussion about the importance of accountability, but much needs to be done to translate it into a manageable and credible system of ongoing feedback. In this book, evaluative inquiry is used in a way that balances attention between the investigation process and its purpose. The book is divided into three parts. Following an…

This guide defines the objectives and procedures of the United States Department of Education's Joint Dissemination Review Panel (JDRP) and the National Diffusion Network (NDN). The authors discuss the JDRP's methods of identifying successful educational programs and informing other schools nationwide about them. The major questions asked about…

Educational programs and evaluations which were submitted to the Department of Education's Joint Dissemination Review Panel (JDRP), in order to be named validated programs, were studied to identify program characteristics associated with large versus small effect size. Effect size was calculated for 165 out of 232 submittals reviewed by JDRP from…

A three-year career education project involving grades 1-14 in twenty schools was undertaken to continue and expand the development and implementation of new and proven career education and guidance concepts, to demonstrate the process used in developing and implementing these concepts, and to provide a visible and transportable model of career…