Deciding whether and how to use assessments to evaluate students' social and emotional (SE) knowledge, attitudes, and skills requires the development and critical appraisal of an assessment plan. At the state, district, and school levels, education leaders and staff can benefit from reviewing best practices and using a structured format to arrive…

Education in the 21st century is awakening to a call for students who are not only proficient with academic content but who also have developed the social and emotional (SE) knowledge, attitudes, and skills that are necessary for success in college and careers. This brief refers to that combination of knowledge, attitudes, and skills as SE…

Assessing individuals' social and emotional (SE) knowledge, attitudes, and skills is a complex task. It requires careful consideration of the assessment purpose, rigor, practicality, burden, and ethics. Once you have considered these factors and have determined that you are, in fact, "Ready to Assess," you are ready to act and choose an…

This article asks and answers the following three questions concerning curriculum evaluation: (1) why evaluate curricula; (2) if curriculum evaluation can be justified, then what are useful curriculum evaluation questions; and (3) given the constraints of time, money, and expertise, how can useful curriculum evaluation be conducted? (DCS)

It is the purpose of this manual to present suggested steps and procedures for use by individual onsite evaluators or by the Utah State Office of Education or any other similar agency charged with responsibility for arranging or conducting onsite evaluations. Although many of the examples used in this manual are drawn from materials developed in…

This study attempted to identify efforts to evaluate programs for gifted and talented students in 122 Texas school districts and to compare these practices with those recommended in the literature and with Texas Education Association guidelines. Areas examined included informal and formal assessment of student and teacher identification practices,…

Following an introduction to the monograph in chapter 1, chapter 2 introduces the conceptual framework for an evaluation model as part of a 9-step continual process of program planning, feedback, and change. Chapter 3 delineates program issues in prevention evaluation discussed from the manager's perspective, including major evaluation questions…

A combination of methods--portfolios, direct observation, assessment centers, and better tests--can compensate for one another's shortcomings and reflect the richness and complexity of teaching. (Author/TE)

The Project on Secondary Analysis directed its attention to methodology and policy issues, focusing on reanalysis of existing data (1979-82)--surveys, program evaluations, etc.--as a vehicle for learning how to improve methods of obtaining and analyzing data, designing program evaluations, and constructing policy to enhance the quality and utility…

This workbook is designed for administrators with project responsibilities that are to be evaluated. The purpose is to help the administrator understand the factors that can affect evaluation use and organize for the evaluation to maximize the potential use of the information the evaluation produces. Four phases of organizing an evaluation to…

This handbook on organizing for evaluation use is oriented to those who commission or are administratively responsible for seeing that evaluations are performed. It is practical, clarifying the administrator's role in the evaluation process and providing worksheets for practice. Written with a minimum of technical language, it is useful for…

Recent commission and task force reports calling for significant improvements in American education are considered in this set of three papers, and methods for implementing the recommendations are suggested. In his paper, Glen Harvey reviews the reports, noting the extent to which they fail to consider change implementation research and commenting…

Identifies aspects of reference services amenable to evaluation, discusses the need for measures of service quality as well as quantity, presents modifications of current measures that meet this need, and stresses the importance of linking performance measures to library planning. (CLB)

Describes different types of financial reports needed in libraries as the bases for accountability, evaluation, and decision making. The appropriate form and content of reports are identified in terms of the audience and the use of the report. (CLB)

Two intruments for evaluating the school plant are presented in this monograph. The first enables districts to appraise the effectiveness of school maintenance programs and plan for future maintenance needs. The eight aspects of maintenance covered relate to the exterior of the building, the interior, special classrooms, the electrical system, the…