Many people believe that environmental regulation has passed a point of diminishing returns: the quick fixes have been achieved and the main sources of pollution are shifting from large "point sources" to more diffuse sources that are more difficult and expensive to regulate. The political climate has also changed in the United States since the 1970s in ways that provide impetus to seek alternatives ... Full description.

This article describes an Earth Systems approach that was developed to prepare preservice elementary school teachers in understanding science content and pedagogy with emphases in technology and mathematics. This approach, developed at the University of New Orleans, uses Lake Ponchartrain as the unifying theme for four courses in which students learn both scientific content and process. The authors ... Full description.

This document describes how to conduct a program evaluation. It covers focusing the evaluation at the outset, collecting and using the information, and managing the evaluation. Each section presents a series of questions and considerations that can be adpated to a specific need and situation. An accompanying worksheet assists the user in organizing this information. Full description.

This resource summarizes several evaluation standards, including utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy. This resource is valuable for anyone who needs to do evaluations in any setting and is not quite sure how or where to begin. Full description.

Blueprints for Reform is a summation of reports offering teachers, parents, policymakers, business leaders, and others a starting point for their exploration of the education system and its response to reform. This chapter looks at how student assessment in American schools might be redesigned to match the goals of science education reform put forth in that are exemplified in efforts such as Project ... Full description.

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas of the curriculum. This resource discusses the characteristics of an effective portfolio, types of portfolios, and the phases of portfolio assessment. It offers guidelines for how to get started using portfolios, how can a portfolio be evaluated, and some additional ... Full description.

This guide provides practical advice on the use of evaluation techniques in assessing digital libraries. Users will be able to design, implement, and report better evaluations within the context of developing, operating, and/or using digital libraries. Topics include the five basic steps in conducting an evaluation, types of evaluations, planning, survey methods, interviews and focus groups, observations, ... Full description.

This is a technical report from the Center for the Study of Evaluation about the integration of research and education. The authors propose the use of students' science notebooks as one possible unobtrusive method of examining some aspects of teaching quality. They conducted a study in fifth grade classrooms, analyzing notebooks according to the characteristics of the activity, quality of the student's ... Full description.

This article describes the results of an evaluation of a career orientation course at Texas A&M University. The evaluation was based on 5 years of entry and exit surveys and on student performance. Some of the findings of the evaluation: 1) Students strongly preferred peers to introduce outside speakers and gain experience in communication, compared with having a faculty member lead the class; ... Full description.

Researchers categorized over one hundred print and web resources that use food to demonstrate earth science concepts. This article describes their findings: food-based activities are found in print and web-based resources with nearly equal frequency; most feature geologic themes; most are designed for primary and middle school audiences, but can be adapted for older students; and most of these activities ... Full description.