Department of Education Reform

EDRE 6213 / ESRM 6613: Program Evaluation & Research Design
Course Information Class: W 12:00-3:00 pm Location: 210 GRAD ED Download Course Syllabus (pdf) Instructor Information Patrick Wolf Office: 219 GRAD ED Office Hours: Mondays 1:00-3:00pm Phone: (479) 575-2084 Email: pwolf@uark.edu

Course Description
This course provides students with training in the methods used to generate evidence-based answers to questions regarding the efficacy and impacts of education programs. The central questions that motivate most educational program evaluations are: (1) What is the problem? (2) What policies or programs are in place to address the problem? (3) What is their effect? (4) What works? (5) What are the relative benefits and costs of alternatives?
Course Readings
Required course reading materials will come from four sources: two required textbooks, reports and articles available on the web, selections of books available on library reserve, and unpublished materials handed out by the instructor. Required Texts Rossi, Peter H., Howard E. Freeman, and Mark W. Lipsey (a.k.a. Rossi, Freeman & Lipsey), Evaluation: A Systematic Approach, Seventh Edition (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004) Sommer, Robert, and Barbara B. Sommer (a.k.a. Sommer and Sommer), A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research: Tools and Techniques (Oxford University Press, 2001).
Additional Readings Available on the Web Wolf et al., Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20094050/ Abdulkadiroglu et al., "Informing the Debate: Comparing Boston's Charter, Pilot and Traditional Schools": http://www.masscharterschools.org/advocacy/HarvardStudy_54pg.pdf Dobbie, W., and R. G. Fryer, Jr.,"Are High-Quality Schools Enough to Close the Achievement Gap? Evidence from a Bold Social Experiment in Harlem": http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/files/hcz%204.15.2009.pdf Braun, H., F. Jenkins, and W. Grigg, "Comparing Private Schools and Public Schools Using HLM": http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/studies/2006461.pdf Peterson, P. E. and E. Llaudet, "On the Public-Private School Achievement Debate": http://www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/PEPG06-02-PetersonLlaudet.pdf Wolf, P., "A Case-Survey of Bureaucratic Effectiveness in U.S. Cabinet Agencies": http://jpart.oxfordjournals.org/content/vol3/issue2/index.dtl Greene, J., "A Meta-Analysis of the Rossell and Baker Review of Bilingual Education Research": http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3722/is_199704/ai_n8783043/ Rouse, C. E. and L. Barrow, "School Vouchers and Student Achievement: Recent Evidence and Remaining Questions": http://econ.annualreviews.org
Other Links
Graduate Student Handbook: http://www.uark.edu/depts/gradinfo/dean/handbook/GRADUATE_STUDENT_HANDBOOK.pdf Center for Students with Disabilities: http://www.uark.edu/ua/csd/applications.htm Inclement Weather Site: http://emergency.uark.edu/
Lectures
Lectures can be downloaded off the class's Blackboard site.