All educational evaluations share common problems, perplexities, and political considerations. Logistic problems include incomplete definition of purpose, unclear timelines and personnel allocations, inadequate support services, and the lack of a program plan. Interpersonal dynamics and conflicts plus unwieldy committee structures are perplexities…

This paper reports on the implementation of a formative evaluation plan developed by nine educators (seven teachers and two administrators) in Richland School District Two (Columbia, South Carolina). Experienced high school teachers set improvement goals for themselves and met with evaluators or peers throughout the year to discuss progress and…

A well-planned and well-conducted evaluation can provide useful information to funding agencies, sponsoring institutions, instructors, and participants. Evaluating an instructional program, such as a workshop or institute, involves collecting, organizing, analyzing, and reporting data about several features of the program and its impact on the…

The Performance Review, Analysis, and Improvement System for Educators (PRAISE) is a formative evaluation instrument designed to improve the performance of school principals. The system appears to be reliable and valid and is flexible enough to accommodate the needs of a variety of schools. Sample items and categories of the instrument include…