In Higher Education Focus Groups and Nominal Group Technique are two well-established methods for obtaining student feedback about their learning experience. These methods are regularly used for the enhancement and quality assurance. Based on small-scale research of educational developers' practice in curriculum development, this study presents…

The authors of this article each bring a different theoretical background to their evaluation practice. The first author has a background of attention to culturally responsive evaluation (CRE), while the second author has a background of attention to systems theories and their application to evaluation. Both have had their own evolution of…

Compared to the significant development of creativity studies, individual creativity research has not reached a meaningful consensus regarding the most valid and reliable method for assessing individual creativity. This study revisited 2 of the most popular methods for assessing individual creativity: subjective and objective methods. This study…

Aesthetic learning is a major issue in arts education. The "method of art" is often expected to facilitate in-depth learning not only in the arts but across the curriculum. This article defines aesthetic learning in terms of a conceptual framework based on two dimensions, one representing the goal and the other the means of aesthetic learning. The…

This review essay looks at three publications that discuss the contentious issue of evaluating education quality (Note 1) by learner outcomes as a proxy indicator (Note 2). The essay explores the debates, gaps and proposes recommendations in the context of Education For All (EFA) (Note 3). The three articles reviewed are Harvey Goldstein's (2004)…

State education agencies and school districts are increasingly using measures based on student test-score growth in their systems for evaluating school and teacher performance. In many cases, these systems inform high-stakes decisions such as which schools to close and which teachers to retain. Performance metrics tied directly to student…

This article describes a hybrid standard setting method that combines characteristics of the Angoff (1971) and Bookmark (Mitzel, Lewis, Patz & Green, 2001) methods. The proposed approach utilizes strengths of each method while addressing weaknesses. An ordered item booklet, with items sorted based on item difficulty, is used in combination…

This research evaluated the inter-rater reliability of the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT). Multiple methods for estimating overall rater consistency include percent agreement and Cohen's Kappa (1960), which yielded discrepancies between rater agreement in terms of whether candidates passed or failed particular PACT rubrics.…

Evaluation is often avoided in human performance technology (HPT), but it is an essential and frequently catalytic activity that adds significant value to projects. Knowing how to approach an evaluation and whether to use qualitative, quantitative, or both methods makes evaluation much easier. In this article, we provide tools to help determine…

Reinforcement-based interventions, the most frequently used treatments for school-age children, rely on accurately identifying stimuli that will serve to reinforce appropriate classroom behavior. Research has consistently demonstrated that the results from a forced-choice pairing procedure are the best predictors of reinforcing stimuli.…

The purpose of this article is to extend the discussion of issues currently being debated on the need for more rigorous program evaluation in educational and other sectors of research, to the field of international development evaluation, reviewing the different approaches which can be adopted to rigorous evaluation methodology and their…

This article started as a debate between the two authors. Both authors present a series of propositions about quality standards in education research. Cook's propositions, as might be expected, not only concern the importance of experimental trials for establishing the security of causal evidence, but also include some important practical and…

Arguments between response to intervention (RTI) with curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and traditional, individual psychoeducational assessments encourage a false dichotomy between alternatives that are not mutually exclusive, but complementary. This article discusses strengths and weaknesses of both approaches, touches on current legislative…

Results yielded three hierarchical factors, two that were moderately related to IQ and MA and one that was independent of IQ and MA. Explanation of the findings was based on a consideration of the differences between divergent and convergent production abilities. (Author)

Computerized think tanks can reach decisions more efficiently than the standard committee meeting method. (Editor)