Suggestions for providing more effective performance appraisals for school media specialists address questions of what performance items and evidence are appropriate for evaluating media specialists in schools of different levels and sizes, and what procedures will successfully involve media specialists, principals, and district level personnel.…

Five authors representing diverse perspectives comment on the revised "Program Evaluation Standards" approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Standards are considered in light of their development; measurement issues; program evaluation; evaluation in the local education agency; and the context of evaluation…

Presented are a rationale and sample techniques for the implementation and continued use of alternative school mathematics evaluation programs that are in alignment with the proposed curriculum standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Emphasis is directed toward holistic scoring techniques including calculator/computer…

The "Goals 2000: Educate America Act" emphasizes including all students in education reform considerations and expects all students to achieve world-class educational standards and learn challenging content to a high level of performance. The Act also establishes voluntary opportunity-to-learn (OTL) standards. OTL standards are defined…

This special double issue focuses on the issue of alternative assessment and its place in educational reform. "Alternative Assessment: A National Perspective" (T. Stefonek) emphasizes that the fundamental purposes of new assessment methods are grounded in educational goals, meaningful outcomes, and curricular and instructional programs…

In Great Britain, interest in the measurement of value added was stimulated initially by the requirement that schools and further education (FE) colleges publish league tables of examination results. Value-added data can be aggregated to compare different institutions' performance. Within colleges, value-added data provide a basis for setting…

The eight chapters of this issue focus on the uses, issues, and implications of national and international indicators of educational performance. They explore progress in using indicators to inform policy decisions and describe the progress of selected countries in developing, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting indicators of educational…

This newsletter reports on the activities of Equipped for the Future (EFF), which is a National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) initiative that develops content standards to ensure that every adult can gain the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill real-world responsibilities as workers, parents, and citizens. A message from the NIFL…

Recognizing the importance of a curriculum that facilitates the acquisition of desirable, affective work competencies (work attitudes, values, and habits) as well as specific job skills, a study was conducted to review and synthesize what is known about the social and psychological aspects of work and to identify specific affective work…