A conceptual framework for considering the costs and benefits of postsecondary education assessment is presented, along with a typology linking the costs of evaluation to their informational benefits. A number of cost-analysis paradigms and techniques for assessing alternative evaluation projects at the institutional level are also examined. The…

The paper suggests that schools often jump into gifted education programs impulsively without adequate planning and curriculum construction. It is asserted that gifted programing must adapt to its school and host community. The contributions of organizational development training in program development are noted. Curricular construction is…

This paper examines the extent to which legitimacy affects program continuation, and focuses on the process by which programs attempt to maintain legitimate status through conformity with the larger environment. Legitimacy is defined as cultural support from a program's larger environment, such as the school district or community. An innovative…

An approach to enhancing program quality in educational institutions through program mapping is presented in this report. First, the objective of program mapping is specified as a means to evaluate and clarify the learning outcomes of a college's educational programs; and its use as a graphic representation of the interdependent relationships…

Several tools exist that school districts can use to help solve current or potential problems in compensatory programs. The school district should begin by conducting (1) a study to determine the extent to which students are served by multiple compensatory programs, (2) on-site observations of the programs, and (3) a review of the curriculum and…

This paper examines various areas related to industry's role in and awareness of the need to respect environmental considerations, both from the perception of the factors relevant to staying in business in the longer term, and the regulations and requirements formulated by governments, often in cooperation with the industrial sector concerned.…

Designed to determine how well the student materials and teachers' guides of commercial spelling programs inform teachers of and reflect important spelling research, present management systems adaptable to individual student needs, provide strategies eliminating unnecessary or nonspelling instruction, and maximize the provisions for individual…

Schools of the Dallas Independent School District have developed procedures to implement and monitor school improvement measures. The district aims to improve student achievement in four areas: functional literacy, mathematics, reading, and basic language arts. Participants in instructional improvement include teachers, principals, administrators,…

Groups from two Michigan-based science education projects, funded through the Kellogg Foundation Science Education Initiative, used networking conferences with cluster evaluation processes for their program assessment format. Cluster evaluation is categorized as a type of naturalistic evaluation, and it includes negotiated common cluster outcomes,…

This paper describes how one university developed a program portfolio, which provides a means for integrating previous strategic initiatives. Step one involved identifying the need for information as different institutional changes were implemented. Over 4 years, the university: launched a comprehensive strategic growth plan; designed and…

This paper addresses the question: What is proper conduct for an internal evaluator? Selected ethical issues are examined, and strategies for responding effectively are proposed. Issues examined are: (1) pressure to downplay negative and emphasize positive findings; (2) reinforcement for nonthreatening evaluation activities; (3) greater interest…

The educational decisions that are made today must consider the current situation of declining enrollment, but also take into account the resurgence in higher education that is certain to follow within the next decade. Community college administrators must take on the role of leaders (i.e., those who infuse an organization with values) rather than…

Four kinds of measures of excellence are currently used in evaluating vocational education: components and process, occupational impact, equity, and individual student development. None of them displays the kind of precision that characterizes measures in the physical sciences. Furthermore, the nature of the enterprise to which these measures must…

This paper introduces a rationale and method for constructing behavioral analytic measures of training program effectiveness that can be adopted by directors of training in diverse settings. The model includes derivation of problematic, on-the-job situations and effective responses from a target sample of trainees and builds an evaluation measure…

Program Level Planning, a model based upon decentralized decision making, is proposed as a method to move the planning process to the university's operational level. After describing the characteristics and steps of Program Level Planning, the problems in shifting the decision making to the local level are considered, along with the application of…