Brian M. Stecher's Books

This comprehensively updated and expanded second edition builds on its successful and popular predecessor, retaining the practical features which made the first edition such an essential guide to IVF. The edition describes additions to the range of ART clinical treatments, including the use of testicular and epididymal sperm, blastocyst stage transfer, and new perspectives in cryobiology and cryopreservation techniques. By incorporating laboratory techniques and protocols, with an even greater emphasis on quality control, it provides an indispensable and practical account. The introductory chapters covering the scientific background that underpins effective laboratory practice have been substantially expanded, derived from research in mammalian systems into the molecular biology of oogenesis, oocyte maturation, and early embryo metabolism. This second edition distils a wealth of practical and scientific detail for the benefit of all IVF practitioners.

Test-based accountability systems that attach high stakes to standardized test results have raised a number of issues on educational assessment and accountability. Do these high-stakes tests measure student achievement accurately? How can policymakers and educators attach the right consequences to the results of these tests? And what kinds of tradeoffs do these testing policies introduce? This book responds to the growing emphasis on high-stakes testing and offers recommendations for more-effective test-based accountability systems.

Examines five accountability models--two from the manufacturing sector; a performance incentive model used in the evaluation of job training programs for the poor; accountability in the legal sector; and accountability in health care as shown by clinical practice guidelines, use of statistical risk-adjustment methods, and the public reporting of health performance measures. The authors summarize the models' effectiveness and draw lessons for implementing the No Child Left Behind Act.

This report reviews the literature on how assessment affects teaching practice and the conditions that moderate that relationship. The authors identify a wide variety of effects that testing might have on teachers' activities in the classroom and a number of conditions that affect the impact that assessment may have on practice.

RAND Corporation, in partnership with the American Institutes for Research, evaluated implementation of key elements of the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching in three public school districts and four charter management organizations.

Since 2001-2002, standards-based accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 have shaped the work of public school teachers and administrators in the United States. This book sheds light on how accountability policies have been translated into actions at the district, school, and classroom levels in three states.

Presents the findings of a multiyear study of the effectiveness of reform-oriented science and mathematics teaching (instructional practices for engaging students actively in their own learning and enhancing the development of complex cognitive skills)-specifically, whether such practices are associated with higher student achievement and whether that association is sensitive to the aspects of achievement that are measured. (CD-ROM enclosed.)

The Implementing Standards-Based Accountability (ISBA) study was designed to examine the strategies that states, districts, and schools are using to implement standards-based accountability under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This monograph presents information regarding the implementation of NCLB in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania from 2003-2004 through 2005-2006, including the final results of the ISBA project.

Changes in the initial stages of the evaluation process over the last decade are reflected in How to Focus an Evaluation. A new book in the series, this volume replaces the first edition's How to Deal with Goals and Objectives. The volume recognizes that deciding what to evaluate is a complex negotiation process that involves the methodological predisposition of the evaluator and the client, client needs, the nature of the program and the constraints surrounding the evaluation. It outlines five models that characterize different methodological approaches and considers how each may contribute to the focusing process. The text provides advice on how and what type of information to collect from clients, how to clarify and prioritize evaluation concerns, and how to formulate a plan matching evaluation concerns with data collection procedures within cost constraints.

Studies suggest that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001's goal of 100 percent of U.S. students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014 will not be met. The authors recommend more-uniform state academic standards and teacher requirements and broader measures of student learning, including more subjects and tests of higher-thinking and problem-solving skills.

In 2000, Edison Schools, the nation's largest education management organization, asked RAND to analyze its achievement outcomes and design implementation. RAND evaluated Edison's strategies for promoting student achievement in its schools, how it implemented those strategies, how its management affected student achievement, and what factors explained differences in achievement trends among its schools.

Book's by Brian M. Stecher

In Vitro Fertilization

In Vitro Fertilization

Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education

Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education

Organizational Improvement and Accountability

Organizational Improvement and Accountability

New Assessments, Better Instruction?

New Assessments, Better Instruction?

Improving Teaching Effectiveness

Improving Teaching Effectiveness

Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind

Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind

Improving Mathematics and Science Education

Improving Mathematics and Science Education

Pain and Gain

Pain and Gain

How to Focus an Evaluation

How to Focus an Evaluation

Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind

Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind

Inspiration, Perspiration, and Time

Inspiration, Perspiration, and Time

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