D'Eon et al. concluded that change in performance self-assessment means from before to after a workshop can detect workshop success in their and other situations. In this commentary, their recommendation is refuted by showing that (a) self-assessments with balanced over- and underestimations are still biased and should not be used to evaluate…

Using concepts from the evaluation literature, this case study describes the instrumental, conceptual, and political influence of the Head Start National Reporting System (NRS) and on-going child assessments in a local Head Start program. This study found that a local program intentionally aimed to limit the influence of the NRS. The NRS validated…

The authors tell about their heterogeneous 91 person research and evaluation unit at an operating foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. They focus on evaluation for program improvement, one of several purposes of studies they work on. The three authors write from their different manager positions within the unit. Included are the context of the…

This randomized-controlled-trial aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a web-phone intervention system in preventing smoking relapse. The intervention was based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), incorporated with Motivational Interviewing strategies, and the Two-phase Model. One hundred and sixteen volunteer subjects were recruited from the…

Institutional reforms have been proposed to improve the delivery and financing of education. School Based Management (SBM) is one such institutional reform where decision making is transferred to the school level. Funds are transferred directly to the school and parents, along with teachers and the principal, allocate and oversee the use of…

IMPACT is a media and technology program designed to support and promote effective instruction through the integration of technology. The model is currently being implemented in 30 K-12 schools throughout North Carolina. This evaluation study investigated the effects of this model on the attitudes, behaviors, and activities of students and…

Community college leaders are using many strategies to improve their students' ability to complete their studies, particularly their academically underprepared students. In recent years, these strategies have included adaptations of an approach long used in four-year colleges known as "learning communities," in which groups of students…

This dissertation studies the short-term effects of attending an after-school program (i.e., LA's BEST) on student mathematic achievement. The effects of one, two and three years of participation are studied, as well as the extent to which the magnitude of these effects varies across grades in which participation occurs, and the extent to which…

The Louisiana Board of Regents is currently outpacing the nation in its ability to inform the public about the effectiveness of redesigned teacher preparation programs in preparing new teachers to teach grades 4-9 students in the areas of mathematics, science, social studies, reading, and language arts. Through the use of Louisiana's Value-Added…

This paper introduces the background to the JISC work within the e-portfolio domain in the UK and presents an overview of past and current activities and the drivers for these developments. This is followed by a review of JISC's approach to drawing out the learning and implications for e-portfolio practice from this extensive collection of work…

Improving student outcomes requires better tools for assessing program effectiveness. Student success courses are offered on most college campuses. However, extant research is overwhelmingly summative, of mixed rigor, and focused on four-year colleges, providing limited support for improving practice in community colleges. This study examined…

This paper compares and contrasts two projects in order to better understand the complex issues surrounding the use of technology to support parental involvement with schools and their children's learning. The Becta-funded ICT Test Bed evaluation (2002-2006) had the intention of saturating schools (in three areas of social deprivation) with a…

This paper aims to offer an evaluation of Australia's National Framework for Values Education in terms of its "educative" value. The criteria to be employed in this evaluation shall be drawn primarily from the works of UNESCO and John Dewey. In addition to a re-evaluation of values, consideration will also be given to how individual…

Background: Professional sport organizations in the United States have notable celebrity status, and several teams have used this "star power" to collaborate with local school districts toward the goal of affecting children's health. Program effectiveness is unknown due to the absence of comprehensive evaluations for these initiatives.…

This paper presents findings from a collaborative evaluation project within a masters programme in professional education. The project aimed to increase knowledge of research methodologies and methods through authentic learning where participants worked in partnership with the tutor to evaluate the module which they were studying. The project…