This book, written by authors representing 12 countries and five continents, is a collection of international perspectives on distance learning and distance learning implementations in higher education. The perspectives are presented in the form of practical case studies of distance learning implementations, research studies on teaching and…

Defines self-formative evaluation as the formative evaluation of instructional materials conducted during the development of the product by its users or developers. Topics discussed include the results of a study that examined users' attitudes toward such evaluation, their ability to execute it, and the effects of training on that ability. (CLB)

This notebook is designed to help educators who are currently learning to design and present inservice programs, educators who are already inservice providers but who might benefit from an overview of inservice theory, and educators who are hiring, supervising, or evaluating inservice providers. It is divided into three parts: (1) Introduction and…

The Individualized Critical Skills Model (ICSM) is an individualized, systematic instructional process that emphasizes teaching severely handicapped learners relevant skills in the environment in which they would naturally occur. The manual is divided into three sections. The first section discusses the historical perspective of the ICSM and gives…

This paper was written in response to the Idaho Teacher Excellence Program (part of the Idaho School Improvement Act of 1984) to assist districts in developing teacher appraisal programs. Central to effective teacher appraisal systems is a clearly defined purpose, i.e., the improvement of instruction. The system used should distinguish between…

Describes the research objectives, rationale, methodology, and findings of a model program developed at the Northwestern University Library, which examined whether online catalogs require instruction and, if so, how that instruction would be best delivered. (CLB)

The components of existing district instructional information systems are identified and illustrated by examples from field studies and descriptions of work with two districts in defining their instructional information systems and assigning costs. Instructional information systems are loosely organized methods of providing past and present…

This document is a guide for use in self-study by groups of college faculty using the Course Planning Exploration (CPE) survey. The CPE is designed to uncover approaches to course planning and thereby stimulate discussion, collegial learning, and development among faculty members. Section I describes the CPE including the history of its…

Instructional leadership is the principal's role in providing direction, resources, and support to teachers and students for the improvement of teaching and learning in the school. This handbook reviews factors affecting that role in four broad domains: keeping informed about trends, planning for instructional improvement, implementing…

This paper studied contextual barriers inhibiting implementation of the Life-Centered Career Education/Employability Enhancement Strategies curriculum, which contains career education assessment and instructional materials for high school students with mild disabilities. Barriers included competing administrative commitments, scarcity of…

This publication is one in a series of 12 giving the recommendations that were made for a broad and balanced education program in science for young people. This guide aims to raise key issues about assessment; provides a measure of up-dating with regard to development; encourages science teachers and departments to reflect on their current…

A strategy for assessing the skill needs of principals and for training them to assume effective instructional leadership is outlined in this paper. A school production model of instructional leadership, supported by research, is presented; the model emphasizes orientation toward specific goals of school productivity and suggests ways to analyze…

This document is intended to help local adult education programs evaluate their programs to assess their capability of designing and delivering a specific workplace education program requested by an employer. The guide begins with an introductory section that discusses the following topics: differences between workplace programs and typical…

A monograph for school district personnel and education agencies presents a comprehensive plan to address the legal and administrative complexities of implementation of services for language minority students, particularly in bilingual education programs. The first section sketches federal involvement in bilingual education and related programs…

The Mathematics Assessment Process (MAP) for the Middle Grades gives teachers and school reform leaders new tools to examine and systematically realign mathematics programs. MAP engages an interdisciplinary coalition within a school in an exploration of mathematics instructional excellence. Through an extensive self-study, a school answers the…