Students learning about professional communication are not often taught about assessment as indicated by its omission as a chapter topic in many major textbooks in the field. Nonetheless, students need to be educated on this topic because, increasingly, there is a push towards instituting assessment practices in business organizations.…

The purpose of this project was to determine if a multiple-week learner-centered hand washing program could improve hand hygiene behaviors of 2nd-graders in a northern Illinois public school system. Volunteers from the Rockford Hand Washing Coalition went into 19 different classrooms for 4 consecutive weeks and taught a learner-centered program.…

We use this paper to suggest the use of Sen's capability approach in interpreting disability. The substantive focus is our evaluation of the Drake Music Project, which uses electronic and computer technologies to enable severely disabled people to explore, compose and perform music. We consider how the process of making music enables the musicians…

Performance benchmarks are proposed to assist undergraduate psychology programs in defining their missions and goals as well as documenting their effectiveness. Experienced academic program reviewers compared their experiences to formulate a developmental framework of attributes of undergraduate programs focusing on activity in 8 domains:…

This article describes the process by which one study utilized qualitative methods to create items for a multi dimensional scale to measure twelve step program affiliation. The process included interviewing fourteen addicted persons while in twelve step focused treatment about specific pros (things they like or would miss out on by not being…

Few longitudinal programs exist to teach senior students (MS4s) to be teachers, nor have there been any reports of comprehensive program evaluation in this area. The primary objectives of this study were to describe our ongoing faculty development effort and to develop a multi-level program evaluation, using Dixon's model. The TALKS (Teaching and…

This article discusses components that can make study abroad programs more effective so that students successfully improve their language and culture competency and gain a more sophisticated understanding of the host culture. First, the authors offer ideas for language instructors at home on how to integrate culture learning into the classroom and…

Many intervention programs use home visiting to target enhanced parent-child interactions; however, few studies have examined specific intervention strategies, limiting the potential utility of evaluation results to guide practice, research, or policy effectively. In this paper, we recommend that researchers and program evaluators open the "black…

The findings from recent Canadian research indicate that while agency managers and front-line workers agree that evaluation is important, they seldom evaluate their work with clients. With the current emphasis on evidence-based practice and outcome-focused intervention, it is important to be able to demonstrate the value of career services in a…

In Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What does the Research Say? Zins and his colleagues presented a new way to conceptualize the impact of social and emotional learning programs on students' school success by broadening the concept to include students' attitudes, behaviors, and performance. To build on Zins' ideas, we…

Mentoring has become increasingly popular during recent years and particularly so in the provision of leadership development, including the mentoring of school principals. In New Zealand, many of these mentoring programmes are developed and funded by central government and are mostly designed to meet the needs of those in their initial years of…

Use of evaluation findings is a valued outcome for most evaluators. However, to optimize use, the findings need to be disseminated to potential users in formats that facilitate use of the information. This reflective case narrative uses a national evaluation of a multisite National Science Foundation (NSF) program as the setting for describing the…

The paper will explore Biggs' concept of constructive alignment in the context of work-based learning (WBL). In his book "Teaching for Quality Learning at University" Biggs quotes Tyler making the claim that "Learning takes place through the active behaviour of the student: it is what "he" does that he learns, not what the teacher does". Biggs'…

Background: The theories supporting cognitive treatment for depression among individuals with intellectual disability (ID) have not been formally tested with this population. The current study evaluated Becks cognitive theory of depression to determine its appropriateness for adults with ID. Methods: Forty-eight adults with primarily mild or…

In 1996, the Kansas City (Kan.) Public Schools, a largely poor, urban system, was facing a crisis. Talk at local and state levels was about closing a number of poor-performing schools. The author discusses how the district took matters in hand to make significant changes. Partnering with the local National Education Association leadership,…