Program Theory-Driven Evaluation Science
By Stewart I. Donaldson
(Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007)


Donaldson’s book illustrates authentic challenges faced in the implementation of an evaluation approach in practice. It outlines commonly accepted strategies for practicing evaluation and includes comprehensive accounts of how those strategies have played out with the complexities and challenges of “real world” settings. It also features detailed examples of how evaluations actually unfold in practice to develop people, programs, and organizations. This book fills the gap between twenty-first century literature on evaluation and what is happening in practice.

Narrowing the Achievement Gap: Strategies for Educating Latino, Black, and Asian Students
By Susan J. Paik and Herbert J. Walberg, editors
(Springer Company, 2007)


Evidence shows that minority children face an ever-widening achievement gap throughout their school years. This book will serve as a valuable professional tool by providing effective strategies from experienced scholars and professionals that can be used to improve academic achievement and well-being of minority students; collectively examining three cultural groups in one concise book on themes related to diverse families, immigration issues, and teaching and learning; and conceptualizing opportunities and challenges in working with minority children in the context of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and other state and local educational policies.

Introduction to Special Education: Making a Difference (sixth edition)
By Deborah Deutsch Smith
(Allyn & Bacon, 2007)


Smith’s book provides an applied approach to children with disabilities by using specific and well-grounded research and suggestions to focus on how educational practices impact the lives of children, their families, and their teachers. This sixth edition includes a new chapter on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Several well-known scholars in the fields of education and psychology endorsed the book, and its chapters and strategies are helpful to researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from interdisciplinary fields in understanding and supporting education for the most visible minority groups in the United States.

Follower-Centered Perspectives on Leadership: A Tribute to the Memory of James R. Meindl
By Boas Shamir, Rajnandini Pillai, Michelle C. Bligh, and Mary Uhl-Bien, editors
(Information Age Publishing, 2006)


A tribute to the late James R. Meindl and his contributions to the field of leadership studies–specifically his follower-centric approach–this book covers a wide variety of perspectives that acknowledge the active roles of followers in the leadership process. These include the psychoanalytical perspective, leadership categorization theory, social identity theory, the shared leadership approach, attribution of charisma through social networks, the role of the media in constructing images of the leader, the social construction of followership, vision implementation by followers, and a post-modern approach to followership.