This study focuses on an evaluation project that served as a powerful professional development experience for teachers and leaders in a network of Chicago small schools. The network of small schools led by the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative is based on the Authentic Intellectual Achievement (AIA) framework originally conceived by Fred…

In its plan to combat the PhD shortage crisis, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB; 2003) has called for the development of PhD program rankings to serve as incentives for academic institutions to invest more in PhD programs, thereby counterbalancing the disproportionate influence of master of business…

This chapter describes evaluator behaviors revealed by the case analysis of a participatory and developmental evaluation. The analysis revealed that the evaluator paid specific attention to individual stakeholder cues. These cues were related to three elements of the evaluation: negotiating the design, monitoring individual stakeholder needs, and…

As public and private funders have focused on evaluating the effectiveness of workforce development programs, a myriad of data collection systems and reporting processes have taken shape. Navigating these systems takes significant time and energy and often saps frontline providers' capacity to use data internally for program improvement.…

This report is a product of an ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) seminar on the first external evaluations of quality assurance agencies, held in Paris in July 2008. The seminar took stock of the achieved reviews of agencies to learn lessons from these first outcomes and, hence, provided a platform for…

In 2002, voters in Florida approved a constitutional amendment limiting class sizes in public schools to 18 students in the elementary grades, 22 students in middle grades, and 25 in high school grades. Analyzing statewide achievement data for school districts from 2004-2006 and for schools in 2007, this study purports to find that "mandated…

This article introduces a tri-national research and development project which aims to develop indicators for the cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary educational task "education for sustainable development" (ESD). These indicators are meant to help monitor the implementation of ESD efforts in schools and institutions of higher education…

This article examines the case for the use of the creative arts in the process of designing, conducting, analyzing, and disseminating evaluations. The authors argue that using the creative arts in the process of evaluation evokes different ways of knowing and understanding the values of a program. The insights gained offer a unique addition to…

This article presents the state of practice of evaluability assessment (EA) as represented in the published literature from 1986 to 2006. Twenty-three EA studies were located, showing that EA was conducted in a wide variety of programs, disciplines, and settings. Most studies employed document reviews, site visits, and interviews, common…

The advantages of the adversary evaluation model are argued. Adversary evaluation utilizes a judicial, argumentative approach and promotes the use of multiple types and sources of data. It grants an investigative license to dig out the data to a greater extent than more traditional approaches. Some of the payoffs of the adversary approach are: (1)…

This paper is addressed to administrators and evaluators in school districts which are initiating bilingual education programs in compliance with a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Major evaluation problems are described and remedies suggested. Each step in the sequence, from needs assessment through final report, is discussed and illustrated. The…

The Using Evaluation Data Form (UEDF) represents a psychological lever for getting a program's decision maker to consider major evaluation findings. The form may be used at any point of the evaluation process when sufficient data exist to support a finding deserving of action or reaction by the project staff. By local policy, it is required for…

Anticipatory evaluation emphasizes the role of evaluation objectives in planning human resource development programs. In this integrated approach, evaluation begins before the program is designed and continues throughout development and implementation. (SK)

This article proposes a conceptual framework for analysis, using some of the ideas embodied in the systems approach, which will enable the investigator to identify the relationships among program operations in a systematic manner, leading to a better understanding of the operations that produce program outputs." (Author)

It should be the supervisor, rather than the staff development expert (training expert), who evaluates the results of a company's training program. All too often, changes reported by the staff development officer are not observed by the trainee's supervisor. (AN)