Instructional product evaluation using the staged innovation design.

In instructional program evaluation, pretest scores typically are compared to posttest scores, and any change is attributed to the instructional program. Such a pretest-posttest evaluation design ignores the possible existence of threats to internal validity. In contrast, the Staged Innovation Design makes use of an experimental and a control-replication group by not introducing the program to all learners at once. Use of the Staged Innovation Design allows for posttest scores for an experimental group to be compared to both pretest and posttest scores of a control-replication group to ascertain the instructional effectiveness of the program. In the study reported here, the Staged Innovation Design was modified with the addition of a simultaneous pretest for both groups prior to the introduction of the program to the control group. As altered, this design controls for threats to internal validity while providing options for multiple comparisons on which to base a contention that the program is instructionally effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]