The report of the national response to intervention (RTI) evaluation study, conducted during 2011-2012, was released in November 2015. Anyone who has read the lengthy report can attest to its complexity and the design used in the study. Both these factors can influence the interpretation of the results from this evaluation. In this commentary, we…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is an ongoing effort to obtain comprehensive and dependable data on national educational achievement. Reports and related assessment materials, such as assessment objectives and items used to measure achievement, have been developed to meet the needs and interests of educators. Several…

In exploring factors inhibiting formal evaluation at the school district level, and limiting the utility of conventional achievement monitoring, this paper begins with a review of the actual origin of the Elementary Secondary Education Act's (ESEA) evaluation requirements, and the attempts to implement national evaluation of ESEA Title I programs.…

Several evaluations of a major national reform of secondary schools in El Salvador emphasizing the adoption of an intensive educational television system were previously undertaken. They are used here to illustrate key issues and problems in the economics of education and their implications for future research and policymaking. (BW)

The National Institute of Education (NIE) should consider the following observations when implementing curriculum development projects: (1) NIE should support curriculum development in the areas of national need, but more effort should be directed to improving existing instructional materials; (2) NIE-supported materials have not been widely…

Social security schemes need to be streamlined and the underlying policies made more coherent to obtain the fullest possible return on expenditure. Third World countries need to reflect very seriously on the role of social security in the development process and on the management problems involved. (CT)

Lessons learned from Onderwijs un Sociaal Milieu (OSM), or Education and Social Origin, the largest compensation and enrichment program ever developed in The Netherlands, are described in this paper. Although the program did not raise lower class students' standardized test scores to the national level, the program had overly ambitious goals and…

Discusses the need for researchers to determine what should be tested and how when evaluating educational computing programs, describes efforts of Educational Testing Service's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure the impact of computers on achievement, and concludes that it will not be easy to evaluate computers' effects.…

Includes five articles that discuss library and information work in Africa. Highlights include computerization in Nigerian libraries; education for library and information services in Ghana; an evaluation of African librarianship; the role of Nigerian publishers in national development; and the role of information services in national development…

This document includes invited papers written for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Elementary/Secondary Education Data Redesign Project. Early in 1985, NCES began a thorough review of its data collection program. The purpose of the review was to address questions of the suitability, scope, reliability, and timeliness of…

Research on compensatory education from 1965 to 1975 questioned whether such programs improved academic performance. Subsequent studies, however, have found compensatory education generally effective and have identified such components of successful basic skills instruction as greater time on task and more parental involvement. (PB)

This letter is an interim response to the October 7, 1991 request from the Committee on Education and Labor and the Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education of the House of Representatives asking for a review of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) achievement levels for the National Assessment of Educational…

Discusses the Resourced Open Learning Facility (ROLF), which was developed by the U.K. Skills Training Agency (STA) as a means of delivering off-the-job skill training for the unemployed. Employment training is discussed and an evaluation of ROLF is described, including management issues and types of trainees. (Author/LRW)

Following a discussion of contrasts between developed and developing countries, this paper describes problems encountered by the Universal Primary Education program, a project in Nigeria designed to promote literacy and eradicate superstititon and ignorance. Specifically, the following problems are described in the light of rural, traditional…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federally funded, nationwide survey of educational achievement in 10 academic fields. The program is examined to determine whether viable alternatives exist to measure educational achievement. The information produced by NAEP concerns the educational achievement of 9-year-olds;…