No significant differences in language skills, social maturity, or self-concept were found for 36 trainable mentally retarded (TMR) elementary students placed in a semi-integrated school environment and 36 TMR Ss in a nonintegrated setting. Concerns regarding assessment of TMR children were noted. (CL)

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)

Evaluates a correctional treatment program to demonstrate how the research design and not the treatment intervention may be responsible for outcomes. The program, Project Papillon, used group counseling and rational emotive therapy to treat drug abuse. Suggestions are offered for designing future evaluations more accurately. (Author/JAC)

An evaluation of a school-based drug education program was employed to examine the effect of administration of a preteaching questionnaire on responses. Found pretesting increased the amounts of alcohol reported consumed and reports of drunkenness and marijuana use. (Author)

This special issue focuses on several methodological issues in the evaluation of the largest mental health and substance abuse project for children and adolescents conducted at a single site, the U.S. Army's Fort Bragg Child and Adolescent Mental Health Demonstration program. The introduction and seven articles describe this program and the…

This research review describes intergenerational program outcomes related to program activities and contexts. It identifies research and evaluation challenges: more effective use of theory, more cross-cultural research, expanded outcomes, and the need to use standardized measures. (Contains 41 references.) (SK)

Imported from New Zealand in 1984, Reading Recovery currently operates in 9,800 schools nationwide. Now the much- touted program for teaching at-risk readers is facing questions about its effectiveness and cost. According to one researcher, Reading Recovery temporarily increases the rate of reading development but has little effect on developing…

Evaluation of an intergenerational shared-site program included observations and videos of 20 children and 27 elders. Interpersonal communication and empathy were cultivated over time. The best activities promoted interaction and relationship building. Environmental factors and teaching style affected outcomes. Making and interpreting videos…

Examines the problems affecting evaluation of distance education in developing countries in terms of economic, political, and social issues. Discusses one solution, a meta-analysis for synthesizing the results of research studies. (JOW)

Assessing results of grants programs is illustrated with evaluation activities of the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies. Methods considered are ex-ante peer review of proposed work, ex-post peer review of completed work, publications-based methods, and "look-back" methods tracing contributions of past work and…

Home-based and school-based programs that have presented sexual abuse prevention information through films, theatrical presentations, books, lectures, and behavioral skills training are evaluated. Results of program evaluations have shown that behavioral skills training packages are the most effective method of teaching self-protection skills and…

L. Ku supports the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program as effective in improving children's health. D. Besharov and P. Germanis reiterate their earlier criticisms that the program is less effective than commonly believed and that research evidence about its effectiveness is flawed. (SLD)

Although nearly 200 million has been invested in producing and rewarding National Board-certified teachers, a study by Lloyd Board and colleagues is the first to assess whether such teachers perform better than their peers. It is uncertain whether researchers' 13 measures of teacher expertise actually correlate with improved student achievement.…

This paper provides a critical analysis of New Zealand's Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF). The first section sketches the development and implementation of the PBRF. The second section evaluates the scheme, concentrating on three themes: the relationship between privatization, competition and research performance; the standardization of…

Students in grades 3 to 8, who participated in the Follow Through program in Portland, Oregon, were tested for their reading and mathematics achievement during Fall 1979, Spring and Fall 1980, and Spring 1981. The measuring instrument used was the Portland Basic Skills Achievement Levels Testing Program. Test results were reported as RIT (Rasch…