Paradoxically, even fairly pedestrian professional development programs that are systemic in nature appear to have more potential for a lasting impact than extremely well-designed professional development programs that are not.
Some projects conduct self-evaluations, using project staff to measure impact.
Others contract with outside university faculty or professional research firms such as HRI to measure their effectiveness. Dr. Weiss pointed out that one of the key difficulties in evaluating reform efforts is the pressure on policymakers, and therefore on educators, to show results before an effort could produce them. To learn more about evaluation efforts, look at the Impact section of Reform Initiative entries. You also can look for specific evaluators in the Abstract field using a Key Word Search. In addition to Horizon Research, frequently cited evaluators include the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, Inverness Research Associates, National Center for Improving Science Education, Program Evaluation and Research Group at Lesley College, SRI International's Center for Education and Human Services, and Woodside Research Consortium.