The New York Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (NYCETP) is a multicampus project designed to produce well-qualified teachers of science and mathematics. As part of the formative evaluation of the NYCETP, evaluators have designed activities that support faculty development and intercampus faculty collaboration. The pilot study of…

A 3-year pilot study of alternative assessments for over 500 beginning teachers revealed numerous possibilities, including high-inference classroom observations, semistructured interviews, structured simulation tasks, performance-based assessment center exercises, portfolios, videotaped teaching episodes, and revamped multiple-choice examinations.…

Explores methods of assessing opportunity to learn (OTL) and presents data collected as part of a pilot study of an eighth-grade statewide mathematics assessment to explore issues of validity. Investigates the integrity of various dimensions thought to constitute OTL, analyzes the relationships among teachers' and students' self-reports, and draws…

This article describes the background and findings of a research project on school effectiveness and evaluation in one regional education authority in China. The study was the outcome of a China/UK academic link aiming to improve research capacity and the evaluation of educational quality in China, funded by the British Council in Beijing, on…

A study evaluated an alternative seminar and major paper approach to the traditional doctoral program comprehensive examination at Pepperdine University (California). The pilot project was conducted over a period of 6 trimesters and involved 28 students who had already completed their course work. Students were also involved in the development of…

This report describes a 7-week pilot study conducted to estimate probable participation rates for a planned substance abuse treatment outcomes study. The pilot program tested whether acceptable response rates might be obtained by contacting clients whose records had been examined by an earlier study (retrospective) or by contacting current clients…

This project provided access to telecommunication networks and research databases at 13 sites in the Mid-Atlantic region from May 1 to June 4, 1993. The project objectives were to pilot a regionally-developed education database; to provide access to this database and the Internet; to train participants to use telecommunications technology; to…

A qualitative evaluation related to the creation of a Regional High School of Excellence (RHSE) in upstate New York is described. The focus is on a summer pilot study of the RHSE conducted while the continuation of the project was jeopardized by proposed budget cuts. The stages of development, problems involved in passing the proposal through the…

Project SHAL in St. Louis (Missouri) involved an attempt to reproduce effective schooling elements, as identified by research, in four inner-city schools, including one middle school (Stowe) and three K-5 schools (Hempstead, Arlington, and Laclede). The pilot project required the development of a replication model to track project implementation,…

This training program offers skills training in all stages of the development of technologies related to small-scale charcoal production, including the design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, and evaluation of prototype kilns. The kiln designs are selected to be as consistent as possible with the realities of rural areas in…

The emergence and purpose of formative evaluation as a tool for curriculum developers is described. It is pointed out that formative evaluation seeks to establish the merit of instructional materials during their development, to modify and improve the design of instructional materials, and to establish their worth so they may be adapted for use in…

The formative evaluation procedures and results described in this report for the development of CABOODLE, a 13-program educational television series in the arts and humanities for the primary grades, had two significant components. Lab segments testing in the initial development phase helped design a format for the series that would hold the…

Six Indian Health Service (IHS) units, chosen in a non-random manner, were evaluated via a quality assessment methodology currently under development by the IHS Office of Research and Development. A set of seven health problems (tracers) was selected to represent major health problems, and clinical algorithms (process maps) were constructed for…

This pilot project, intended to introduce secondary students to health occupations, includes a curriculum that is being designed for replication in secondary schools throughout the nation. Evaluation of the project is intended to provide a valid means of curriculum adjustment. This document presents the proposed research design to be used for…

This report describes the procedures and results of a field test of an instructional unit intended for upper elementary and secondary teachers who have some access to computers. The unit consists of five booklets covering the rudiments of computer hardware, computer programing languages, the different roles the computer may play in instruction,…