What constitutes quality in early childhood settings, and how can it best be measured with today's widely used tools and promising new approaches? Find authoritative answers in this book, a must-have for high-level administrators and policymakers as more and more states adopt early childhood Quality Rating and Improvement Systems. The most…

This document provides information for managers in the U. S. Agency for International Development on measuring institutional capacity, including some tools that measure the capacity of an entire organization as well as others that look at individual components or functions of an organization. The paper defines and discusses capacity assessment in…

The purpose of this compendium is to assist administrators, staff, evaluators, and alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention specialists in identifying and selecting feasible, informative, and appropriate evaluation instruments to assess AOD use and monitor program effectiveness on campus. The use of qualitative methods in the evaluation of…

A procedure for identifying performance indicators of university research attainment are presented, and definitional issues concerning these indicators are examined. The model, developed at the University of Western Australia, is seen as allowing for both diversity and comparability across the institution. It is stressed that an underlying…

Streamlining involves the modification of cost-analysis methods to make them more appropriate for the limited time and resources, and immediate information needs, of local-level program evaluations. It can also enhance the reliability and validity of district-level studies. A review of existing texts of cost analysis and of studies of traditional…

The use of performance evaluation and performance indicators in Finland is reviewed, and a study of Finnish researchers' perceptions and attitudes about them is discussed. Three conclusions emerged from the study: (1) departmental indicators should be developed; (2) publications are not a bad measure of performance; and (3) most scientists support…

This book addresses the domain of Measurement and Evaluation, 1 of 21 domains of knowledge and skill deemed necessary for the principalship by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. The purpose of this book is to help principals and others who assume leadership roles in schools to understand the importance of measurement and…

Intended for use by childcare center directors, this guide presents the Quick Quality Check, a practical method for measuring and improving the quality of care in infant/toddler classrooms. The four chapters of the guide discuss the specifics of the Quick Quality Check method for both infants and toddlers, including the instrument development, as…

Describes the development and use of a 7-item survey to evaluate sessions at an annual meeting of the Society of Research Administrators. Based on the 556 responses, the procedure proved an efficient and reliable method of obtaining information on sessions. Items addressed respondents' interest in the session, speaker qualifications and…

This handbook is a "how to do it" set of definitions, instruments, and procedures based on program effectiveness and related costs (PERC) evaluation at Empire State College (Saratoga Springs, New York) and four other cooperating institutions. The handbook focuses first on program effectiveness and then considers program costs. It…

Intended for policymakers, administrators, and others involved in determining how the efficiency and effectiveness of technical and further education (TAFE) should be measured, this monograph contains the following sections: (1) "Introduction," including a explanation of the origins of the push for performance indicators and the response…

This document comprises information and various forms that can be used by schools to conduct an annual local review of their Education Consolidation and Improvement Act Chapter 1 School Program and identify programs needing improvement. The following materials are included: (1) a summary of requirements for a local annual review; (2) an outline of…

The first of two related pamphlets, this guide provides information on how to conduct cost-outcome analyses, with an emphasis on measuring costs. After an introduction that delineates the purpose of the two-part series, the pamphlet is divided into six major sections. The first section, "definitions and rationale," introduces…

A workshop designed to present teachers and administrators with information on assessment issues and instruments related to developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood classrooms is presented in this guide for trainers. The workshop is process-oriented, meaning that participants will be engaged in activities that require them to…

What difference are we making? How do we know? How can we show it? These questions about program performance are asked by adult literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers, program administrators, and funders. This guide is designed to be used by local adult education programs to facilitate a systematic inquiry process…