This "Research Update" explores two major themes: (1) Using evaluation to shape program improvement and planning; and (2) Out-of-school time benefits to older youth and their families. Themes were culled from 13 research and evaluation reports added to the Out-of-School Time (OST) Program Research and Evaluation Bibliography in September 2008.…

Based on literature and research on discussion and on educational techniques to improve discussion moderators behaviors, a training program was developed for pre- and in-service teacher educators, business and industry executives and university professors (23 to 28 hours, three and a half days). This program was tested for its effectiveness with…

Six years of survey data were analyzed to assess, among other things, the degree to which an AACSB accredited graduate business program successfully developed student skills in a variety of areas deemed important for career success. The study illustrates a methodology institutions can use to respond to increasing demands for program evaluation and…

A dramatic shift in research priorities has recently produced a large number of ambitious randomized trials in K-12 education. In most cases, the aim is to improve student academic learning by improving classroom instruction. Embedded in these studies are theories about how the quality of classroom must improve if these interventions are to…

Program evaluation practices in early childhood care and education have been underdeveloped compared to the larger field of educational evaluation. The inclination not to include parental views in evaluation is mainly a result of the problem of positive response bias. Researchers who study client satisfaction with educational or child care…

The study reported in this article, a Multi-Stage Longitudinal Comparative Design Stage II evaluation conducted as a planned preliminary efficacy evaluation (psychometric evaluation of measures, short-term controlled outcome studies, etc.) of the Changing Lives Program (CLP), provided evidence for the reliability and validity of the qualitative…

This article examines theoretical and empirical issues related to the statistical power of impact estimates for experimental evaluations of education programs. The author considers designs where random assignment is conducted at the school, classroom, or student level, and employs a unified analytic framework using statistical methods from the…

Children with early-starting conduct problems have a very poor prognosis and exact a high cost to society. The Fast Track project is a multisite, collaborative research project investigating the efficacy of a comprehensive, long-term, multicomponent intervention designed to "prevent" the development of serious conduct problems in high-risk…

Purpose: Despite years of advice from researchers that trainee reactions provide training evaluation information that is of very limited use, trainee reactions remain the most commonly used measure of training effectiveness. Because the technology that supports online training facilitates the collection of trainee reaction information during and…

In the "hands on" mentoring program describing in this paper, cadets enrolled in a traditional undergraduate Educational Psychology course at the U.S. Air Force Academy) were mentored by Air Officer Commanders (AOCs) enrolled in a graduate level Educational Psychology course. This mentoring program was ideal for both groups of students, as the…

As a result of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002, the field of education has seen a heavy emphasis on the use of "scientifically based research" for designing and testing the effectiveness of new and existing educational programs. According to NCLB, when addressing basic cause and effect questions scientifically based…

The Quality Child Care Initiative, the federal apprenticeship program applied to the field of early care and education, has been implemented in over 40 states. This federal initiative was designed to reduce turnover, increase wages, provide a more stable environment for children, and lower the concern of parents. Rhode Island received funding in…

The United States has a long tradition in evaluation of political programs. In the 1930s and 1940s, programs were initiated to reduce unemployment and improve social security as part of the "New Deal." In the late 1960s, somewhat comparable to the U. S. at that time, Germany's new government started its own "New Deal."…

The role of nonprofit human service executive directors in their organizations' program evaluation process is described. Recognizing that the leader's perspective from within the organization is fundamental to building capacity for and utilizing program evaluation, this study examines 42 executive directors to determine how they view program…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) provides online reports to the public about the scientific evidence for educational interventions. The quality of these reports is important because they effectively tell the non-scientific community which programmes do and do not work. The aim of this brief review is to assess WWC's report on a clinically…