The Accelerated Reader program from Renaissance Learning Inc. is a popular program implemented in elementary and middle schools across the country that encourages students to read and monitors their progress in the program. Despite its widespread use and popularity, there have been some questions about the program's effectiveness at increasing…

Online forestry education can serve large populations of woodland owners and managers. Cornell University's ForestConnect program initiated the nation's first woodlot management educational webinar series. We conducted an educational evaluation to determine: (1) the educational impact of the ForestConnect Webinar series, (2) the involvement of new…

Objectives: To provide a critical review of the efficacy of brief interventions for alcohol use in college health centers. Methods: Studies were included if (a) they examined brief intervention trials that were conducted in college- or university-based student health centers or emergency departments, and (b) they provided pre-post data to estimate…

Children often have complex emotional and behavioral disorders (ADHD, ODD, Depression, PTSD, etc.). A large amount of research exists in the behavioral treatment of children with these disorders regarding specific behavioral problems. Much less research exists for the treatment of comprehensive problematic behaviors that these children experience…

This paper presents methodology and findings from three product efficacy studies that verify the quality of life benefits resulting from prior research, development, and transfer activities. The paper then discusses key lessons learned with implications for product evaluation practice. The studies assessed the quality of three assistive technology…

This study evaluated a professional development intervention that stemmed from a university-district partnership and was developed through participatory action research. Baseline and postintervention survey items showed participating school psychologists' (n = 57) knowledge related to youth suicide improved reliably immediately after the…

This study evaluated the impact of a specific program on the training of preservice teachers; the program consisted of alternating periods of "condensed" and autonomous classroom work and training sequences with university supervisors and cooperating teachers in order to prepare for these practical work periods. Borrowing from an original…

In "Toward a More Comprehensive Model of Teacher Pay"--a paper presented at the February 2008 National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference--Julia Koppich examines recent policy initiatives implementing new approaches to teacher pay. Her discussion focuses on four current initiatives: ProComp in Denver, Toledo…

Research demonstrates that when ex-offenders gain employment the risk of their re-offending reduces by between a third and a half. However, many prisoners have few qualifications and low levels of literacy, and many have never held a proper job. Learning, Skills and Employability (LSE) aims to provide appropriate education and training so that…

Administrators across the U.S. are collecting and analyzing program and student-specific data to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004), and state performance plans. Although most states are not required to disaggregate data for students who are visually impaired,…

The present article focuses on how faculty can be guided in the mentoring process and how formal mentoring programs improve practice, as well as the impact of formal mentoring on new faculty and faculty mentors. The empirical case study described features a new faculty mentoring program in its second year of development in a university research…

There is a lack of validated autism-specific outcome measures for large-scale evaluation of the effectiveness of psycho-educational programmes. To fill this gap the Environment Rating Scale (ERS) was adapted from an interview version to a staff-completed questionnaire version (ERS-Q). The ERS-Q was tested regarding data quality, validity,…

This study synthesized the findings of three program evaluations of teacher blended professional development programs from the perspective of situated design and implementation, development of community, changes in teacher practice, and impact on students. We found that the blended programs were effective in providing teachers with an opportunity…

Approaches incorporating 12-Step beliefs and practices have dominated substance abuse treatment despite a lack of empirical support. Recent claims for effectiveness relying on results from a large, multisite research project in the U.S. were re-evaluated based on critical analysis of design, methodology, and construction of outcome measures.…

The role of gender in shaping the course and quality of adult-youth mentoring relationships was examined. The study drew on data from a large, random assignment evaluation of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBSA) programs [Grossman, J. B., & Tierney, J. P. (1998). Does mentoring work? An impact study of the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.…