Since the mid-1990s, job-training and employment programs for low-income people have begun to emphasize not only program development and implementation, but also reform of the "system" of labor market, employers, training providers, and helping agencies. In 1995, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which launched the Jobs Initiative in 6…

Recent Australian research provides a solid body of evidence that training investments can yield very high levels of returns for firms across a range of sectors. It highlights these important factors about returns on investment (ROI): ROI come in many forms; immediate ROI are highest when training is highly focused; measuring ROI is not always…

This document is comprised of the two 2001 issues of a newsletter of the Harvard Family Research Project, designed to share new ideas and experiences in evaluating systems reform and comprehensive child and family services. The first issue focuses on strategic communications and efforts of nonprofit agencies to evaluate strategic communication…

The past two decades have witnessed a significant growth in the number of school improvement programs and in the accompanying efforts to evaluate such programs. Passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002 has intensified the need for evaluations to assess and understand the quality and value of educational interventions. Well over a…

This article is about a small-scale research project which investigated changing the authors' classroom practice at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level and how that change impacts on both teachers and students. This project emerged out of earlier classroom research funded and supported by the National Union of Teachers and…

The new emphasis on performance-based assessment holds much promise for assessment in physical education, particularly for the assessment of motor skills. Physical educators want to know if students can perform motor skills and use those motor skills in game and activity settings. However, the viability of performance-based assessment as a formal…

The ways in which the needs of special populations--students in poverty, English learners, and particularly special education students--have been addressed in studies measuring educational adequacy vary widely. This paper analyzes how these populations have been treated across various adequacy studies, with its major focus on special education…

The National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects (NARAP) is a collaborative effort that is conducting research to make large-scale assessments of reading proficiency more accessible for students who have disabilities that affect reading. There are two projects that comprise the NARAP partnership, Designing Accessible Reading Assessments (DARA)…

This guide is intended for college and university administrators responsible for designing and implementing a model for assessment of student outcomes and institutional effectiveness. The first chapter explains use of the handbook and introduces the institutional effectiveness paradigm on which it is based. The second chapter explains the model…

In light of debate about the developmentally inappropriate and culturally questionable use of standardized testing for placement of preschool children, alternative approaches to screening and assessment are required. The impact of a Head Start program upon children must involve documentation of physical and mental health, speech, hearing, vision,…

This paper presents results and recommendations from a literature review, the purpose of which was to: (1) find the best structure and content for a core curricular assessment plan at Brenau Women's College (Georgia); and (2) determine a reasonable evaluation plan of the core curricular assessment plan once it is implemented. The literature also…

This five-part volume presents a comprehensive collection of 24 accounts of campus assessment practices by the individuals who developed and implemented them. Part 1 presents the stories of five institutions in which assessment has effected a marked change in the way faculty and staff do their work. Part 2 describes some of the broad approaches to…

This brochure, one in a series of four, is designed to assist program directors, teachers, and evaluators evaluate programs to encourage girls in mathematics, science, and engineering. Seven sections cover the why, the what, and some of the how of program evaluation. The first section explains why programs need to be evaluated. The second section…

A study examined the provision of vocational training (VT) and its relationship to economic development in the region of Portugal encompassing the municipalities of Alcobaca and Caldas da Rainha. Data were obtained from a number of sources: regionally based statistical information, published documents and studies/reports about the region,…

This report presents information on the effectiveness, including cost effectiveness, of many programs of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD). In 1991-92, the AISD Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) reviewed 85 programs or program components. Cost effectiveness was calculated for 18 programs using an achievement effect…