An overview of means of assessing school effectiveness in Australia is presented. Frameworks for assessment, sources of information (annual reports, committees of inquiry, and monitoring of achievement and non-cognitive outcomes), and process measures (curriculum changes and teaching) are discussed. (TJH)

Articulates a framework that can place the Outcomes Based Education movement in a historical context and by so doing advance its discourse on assessment. Reviews the development and structure of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (B. Bloom et al., 1956) and the structure of Student Outcome Statements in Western Australia and explores the…

This paper discusses the advantages of non-competitive assessment, which has as its basic concern that only the performance of a particular student is observed, and then only his or her most recent performance. The most common forms of non-competitive assessment are (1) descriptive and (2) goal-based or work-based. (LMO)

The Australian experience with school self-evaluation is reviewed, and projections are made concerning the future. Trends for both government and non-government schools are reviewed, and tools for periodic as well as ongoing self-evaluation are discussed. An increasing focus on the design of school management information systems is projected. (TJH)

This paper describes some experimental work with teachers in a number of Australian schools to provide criterion-referenced assessments of student achievement. Student performance is analyzed using assessment materials developed within each school. Teachers are provided with computer generated reports and assisted in monitoring progress. (LMO)

A study with 516 Australian families which supports a model of parent involvement in learning is presented. The model involves assessment of family opportunity structures as defined by parent aspirations for their children and parents' academic socialization, as well as children's perceptions of family opportunity structures. (SLD)

Evaluative information was collected about a history of mathematics project consisting of a play about Thales and an article about the history of conics. Methods included obtaining unstructured opinions of five experts, questionnaire responses from 39 teachers, and results of a test of affective and cognitive outcomes of 117 students. (CTM)

Education systems around the world have begun to describe student outcomes rather explicitly in terms of actual learning that students should exhibit. How system approaches to articulating and monitoring these outcomes function is explored with reference to British, Australian, Canadian, and U.S. (Kentucky, New York, and the New Standards Project)…

Special education services in Australia are provided by state departments of education as well as voluntary organizations. These services are provided in toy libraries and activity therapy centers as well as school settings. Thus, a variety of separate evaluations have been conducted. Further cooperative and systematic assessments are planned.…

The types of school evaluation being used in private and state school sectors in Australia are described on a state-by-state basis. A growing interest in evaluation is evident; and evaluations are increasingly holistic, relying on a wide range of quantitative and qualitative data. (SLD)

Seven articles on the evaluation of high technology educational media are presented. Topics covered include hardware and software evaluation, acquired immune deficiency syndrome education, computer-based educational evaluation in the Netherlands, evaluation of educational television in Israel, broadcasting research, interactive video, and effects…