Presents findings from an evaluation of an entrepreneurship and community economic-development initiative in three Chicago (Illinois) public high schools. Two schools were quite satisfied with the program's implementation, but it was difficult to document improvements in student outcomes. Discusses difficulties in evaluating this type of project.…

A study involving three individuals (ages 13-20) with developmental disabilities and problem behaviors examined the influential role that unanticipated idiosyncratic stimulus variables play in affecting the outcome of a functional analysis. Guidelines are discussed concerning when to suspect that idiosyncratic stimuli might be acting to influence…

Predictive evaluation of educational software is problematic because such instructional materials should be evaluated only setting by setting. A situated approach suggests that appropriate evaluation can be performed by considering interactions between the three principal actors in the development and use of the software: teacher, designer, and…

The dynamic interplay between internal and external evaluation in formative and summative studies of an intervention program aimed at promoting mathematics, science, and technology education was explored. Results emphasize the need to define the roles of formative and summative evaluation and the contributions of internal and external evaluators…

Discusses the history of evaluation research, focusing on current emphasis on "evidence-based policy." Highlights five issues emerging as relevant: evaluation can be done in many ways, serious doubts exist about the usefulness of the term "evaluation," evaluation is held back by paradigm wars, views of evaluation are…

Comments on findings from a European survey of graduate employment and illustrates the difficulty of trying to make international comparisons of higher education's contribution to employability. Suggests that comparison within the United Kingdom is also problematic and provides evidence of the impact of factors outside higher education's control.…

Discusses value of search results as a whole, a measure which asks for a user's rating of the usefulness of a set of search results based on a Likert scale, and suggests that this measure provides a simple way for system comparison and eliminates problems of information-retrieval evaluation with multiple measures. (Author/LRW)

In this article, the history of linking is summarized, and current linking frameworks that have been proposed are considered. Key publications discussed include Flanagan (1951), Angoff (1971), Linn (1993), Mislevy (1992), and Feuer, Holland, Green, Bertenthal, and Hemphill (1999). The article further focuses on the concordance situation for…

A multistakeholder evaluation procedure is presented to address the many challenges in evaluating the performance of condominial sewer projects in Brazil. Condominial sewerage is a promising appropriate technology that is coproduced by users and public agencies, but little is known about project performance. This article shows that…

In this article, the author discusses the new role assessment is playing in the higher education (HE) arena. Highlighted are the feelings of higher education faculty who observe the lack of preparation of students entering HE, and the fact that in introductory courses they are often teaching the skills--writing, critical thinking, basic…

Background: Coordinated school health programs (CSHP) frequently struggle with how to adequately evaluate implementation. The CSHP framework provides flexibility in how it is implemented; however, this flexibility makes it a challenge to effectively evaluate. Portfolios have been used as a technique for evaluating progress and achievement. This…

This article questions whether popular approaches to the assessment of technology integration with classroom instruction are valid. The article explores Messick's (1993) conceptualisation of consequential validity, in an attempt to understand what validity must be evident when the integration of technology with classroom instruction is assessed.…

One of the issues facing educational research workers today is the determination of the similarities and differences between countries and cultures in the factors that influence educational outcomes. The author of this article proposes a new approach to this problem. Usually when countries are compared, the complete student samples are taken into…

The effects of recent moves toward national testing regimes are being felt at the classroom level, where teachers feel compelled to "teach to the tests." Thus, they are now accountable in two ways: to students (and their understandings) and to the public and to the school boards (for improving overall student test scores). It is important to…

Head Start classroom observations are an integral part of providing high-quality services to families and children while supporting staff. All too often, however, this opportunity to enhance services and solve problems is viewed either as an evaluation of staff or as a "rubber stamp" to meet funding requirements. Depending on the…