The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Virginia school divisions' policy of paying the fee for students to take Advanced Placement exams on Advanced Placement course enrollment, the number of Advanced Placement exams taken by students, the average scores earned and the percent of students earning qualifying scores of 3, 4, or 5…

Evaluation in environmental education is fairly nascent despite decades-long attention to its importance. In setting the context for future chapters appearing in this special issue of the "Journal of Evaluation and Program Planning," attention is devoted to the political circumstances associated with retrenchment in the public sector and increased…

This engaging text takes an evenhanded approach to major theoretical paradigms in evaluation and builds a bridge from them to evaluation practice. Featuring helpful checklists, procedural steps, provocative questions that invite readers to explore their own theoretical assumptions, and practical exercises, the book provides concrete guidance for…

This study reports on performance-based teacher evaluation systems in five states that have implemented such systems. It investigates two primary research questions: (1) What are the key characteristics of state-level performance-based teacher evaluation systems in the study states?; and (2) How do state teacher evaluation measures, the teaching…

The act of valuing in an evaluation may be perceived in different ways. We consider the multiple theoretic perspectives that govern an evaluator's behavior and present a typology of evaluator valuing roles. Within this typology we describe three ways in which value judgments are typically reached--by stakeholders alone, stakeholders and evaluators…

This article presents some results arising from the meta-analysis of the educational research that has been developed at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal). The intention was to understand the status of the educational research produced, the main thematic trends studied, affiliated scientific domains, conceptual frames mobilized, and…

The present review examines research on the effects of technology use on reading achievement in K-12 classrooms. Unlike previous reviews, this review applies consistent inclusion standards to focus on studies that met high methodological standards. In addition, methodological and substantive features of the studies are investigated to examine the…

We want our students to experience system testing of both desktop and web applications, but the cost of professional system-testing tools is far too high. We evaluate several free tools and find that AutoIt makes an ideal educational system-testing tool. We show several examples of desktop and web testing with AutoIt, starting with simple…

Judging from the recent surge in research on outcomes assessment, many study abroad offices rely on quantitative surveys and measures to collect student outcomes data. This paper presents a multidimensional, qualitative approach to data collection. This approach makes qualitative data easy to collect and encourages students to reflect and…

Rupture resistance is a measure of the strength of a soil to withstand an applied stress or resist deformation. In soil survey, during routine soil descriptions, rupture resistance is described for each horizon or layer in the soil profile. The lower portion of the rupture resistance classes are assigned based on rupture between thumb and…

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a pilot study that promoted productive and capacity-building activities among deprived rural women of Mexico. The evaluation design is observational; 1,278 women are interviewed, and the comparison group is estimated by propensity score matching. The results show a positive impact on the…

This study investigated faculty development program assessment practices through one-on-one interviews with 20 faculty developers in public and private colleges and universities in a state in the Upper Midwest. Findings from this study indicated program assessment continues to be a routine practice predominantly focused on superficial measures.…

This study examined the potential utility of adding items that assessed youths' emotional and behavioral disorders to a commonly used surveillance survey. The goal was to evaluate whether the added items could enhance understanding of youths' involvement in high-risk behaviors. A sample of 3,331 adolescents in Grades 8, 10, and 12 from four…

The purpose of the mixed methods study was to develop and validate the CSIS-360, a 360-degree feedback assessment to measure competencies of school improvement specialists from multiple perspectives. The study consisted of eight practicing school improvement specialists from a variety of settings. The specialists nominated 23 constituents to…

Teacher perceptions of school-based behavior assessments were assessed over the course of a school year. Specifically, the utility and relevance of Direct Behavior Ratings-Single Item Scales, a hybrid direct observation method, relative to two school-based behavioral rating scales, the Social Skills Improvement System-Performance Screening Guide…