This first-ever look at the national charter school pipeline--what schools are being proposed and by whom--reveals a diverse sector, with a tremendous variety of applicants and school models. Working with Public Impact, National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) collected and analyzed nearly 3,000 charter school applications…

The area of teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) is of growing interest internationally. However, while an increasing range of literature focuses on particular aspects of CPD, there is a paucity of literature addressing the spectrum of CPD models in a comparative manner. This article therefore considers a wide range of international…

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for conceptualizing and assessing fidelity of implementation (FOI) in the context of a cluster-randomized design study. A research-validated mathematics curriculum for preschool children called Numbers Plus is used as an example to describe the role of curriculum implementation fidelity in the…

Following Messick's definition of validity as a multi-faceted construct that includes contextual, substantive, structural, generalizable, external, and consequential dimensions, this study examined an established directed self-placement (DSP) system that had been functioning for ten years at a large university. The goal was to determine the extent…

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate application of a new framework, the validation framework (VF), to assist researchers in evaluating mixed research studies. Based on an earlier work by Dellinger and Leech, a description of the VF is delineated. Using the VF, three studies from education, health care, and counseling fields are…

Examines the interrelationship between the National Diffusion Network and the Office of Career Education. Discusses initial collaborative efforts (fiscal year 1979), further efforts (fiscal year 1980), and plans for the future. (CT)

The genetic relationship between intelligence and components of cognition remains controversial. Conflicting results may be a function of the limited number of methods used in experimental evaluation. The current study is the first to use CANTAB (The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery). This is a battery of validated computerised…

An adult basic education evaluation design should be directly related to realistic and assessable process and outcome objectives of a project. The design should be established early, and baseline data should be obtained prior to, or at least concurrent with, initiating the delivery of services. (CT)

Counselor educators (N = 167) in programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs were surveyed regarding research training received during their doctoral studies. Respondents shared perspectives regarding the quality and quantity of their research course work as well as suggestions on how to…

HOSTS, "Helping One Student To Succeed," is a nationally-validated Chapter I program adopted by 24 schools in the Portland School District. It was designed to help low performers learn to read by providing individualized instruction on a one-to-one basis through the use of trained volunteer tutors. The HOSTS curriculum is designed as a…

This study was undertaken to validate a curriculum which integrated social studies, science, and musical concepts for first graders in terms of learner achievement. Learner achievement data were derived from 568 young learners in public schools. A four-group design which included one treatment group and three control groups was used. These groups…

City-as-School (CAS) is an alternative high school linking students to various out-of-school learning experiences throughout New York City. In 1985, the CAS was awarded a National Diffusion Network (NDN) four-year replication grant, given to exemplary programs to enable them to disseminate their model to other interested schools and districts…

The report provides an analysis of the impact of the Handicapped Children's Early Education Program (HCEEP) during the past decade. Following an executive summary, Chapter 1 provides an historical overview of the HCEEP and information on previous evaluations of the program. The second chapter describes the study's work scope and methodological…

This volume is part of a series of Idea Books for school-based practitioners who are implementing federal compensatory-education programs. It demonstrates how educators and their supporting communities are implementing a new vision of comprehensive school reform using the schoolwide program option available under the 1994 reauthorization of the…

Evaluation of early childhood special education programs are constrained by the nature of the population served, the impossibility of random assignment, the absence of control groups, and the absence of normed standardized measures. This paper critically examines the components of evaluations which have overcome these difficulties and highlights…