This symposium enacts a debate over a high-stakes question for writing studies: How does standardization within and across writing programs enable or constrain our democratic aspirations? It includes: (1) "Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Assessment " (Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein); (2) "Assessment, Coherence, and…

Discusses the effects of full-day kindergarten as producing academically stronger students who are better able to compete with the "norm." (SLD)

Discusses the attributes of a successful assessment program as part of the process proceeding from assessment to accountability and finally to accreditation. (SLD)

Discusses testing the communication competencies of college students and recommends the use of the Cognitive Test for College Level Communication Competencies Assessment. (SLD)

The first article in this section, "Rating Scales and Shared Meaning," by Winifred A. Lopez, discusses the analysis of rating scale data. The second article, "Rating Scale Categories: Dichotomy, Double Dichotomy, and the Number Two," by Mark H. Stone, argues that dichotomies in rating scales are more useful than multiple…

Discusses measuring changes in college student self-efficacy using the Rasch Model. (SLD)

Discusses the evaluation of medical rehabilitation outcomes using various measurement instruments. (SLD)

The two articles of this theme section consider problems of measurement in relation to games. "How Good was Bobby Fischer in 1992?" (John Michael Linacre) explores a Rasch analysis of the chess performance of Bobby Fischer, while "Objective Analysis of Golf" (Patrick Fisher) considers measurement problems presented by golf.…

The five articles of this special section focus on the quantitative-qualitative debate in program evaluation. This section focuses on philosophical aspects of program evaluation, making it clear that the issues are far more complex than the simple quantitative-qualitative dichotomy described by T. S. Kuhn (1970) implies. (SLD)

Elaborates on explorations and arguments prompted by the effort undertaken by the Department of Education through the National Center for Education Statistics to begin developing the National Assessment of College Student Learning (NACSL), which focuses on, among other things, "advanced ability to communicate effectively," as specified…

Outcomes evaluation of community partnerships to prevent substance abuse poses many methodological challenges. The nine articles of this special section illustrate the variety of approaches evaluators have taken to studies that are often complicated because of small sample size. (SLD)

The five chapters of this special issue provide insights into how Scandinavians understand evaluation practice. Although there is no "Scandinavian" perspective on evaluation, theory and practice in the Scandinavian countries unfold against sociocultural and intellectual influences that differ from those of the United States. (SLD)

Two articles present differing points of view on the evaluation of the development of a teacher education program. "Through the Looking Glass..." describes what happens when an evaluator becomes the evaluation client, and "Degrees of Strangeness" reports on the evaluator's findings and opinions. (SLD)

Focuses on two implicit assumptions that Carl Rogers saw as dangerous undercurrents in the educational process: that ability to pass examinations is the best criterion for student selection and for judging professional promise, and that evaluation is education and education is evaluation. Opinions are offered by three professionals, each with…

Eight papers on multisite evaluation are presented. Topics include organizational and methodological issues, program theory, coordination of staffing, and the program review team approach. Programs and policies evaluated include those focusing on adult day health care, spousal assault, mental health, job-training for single mothers, criminal…