Factors reported to be important in the design, implementation, and evaluation of professional development programs for department chairs are described. Attention is also directed to results from a goal-focused evaluation of the 6-year-old program to train new department heads in the nine state universities of Florida, a program that is being…

This planning guide is divided into two sections. Section I presents a rationale for and definition of outreach for the field of rehabilitation. Section II is a training guide which provides specific information and planning procedures necessary to design and evaluate outreach programs. This section leads the agency management staff through…

This issue and its introductions, postscript, and 11 chapters deal with the special evaluation problems of programs in the developing world. Views of policymakers, practitioners, and evaluators on ways to evaluate development are presented. The collection offers a framework for debate and proposes new emphases for development evaluation. (SLD)

Seven chapters present 31 propositions challenging traditional ideas about the nature and practice of program evaluation. Methods to improve evaluation models and approaches and ways to address intermediate and advanced evaluation issues are explored. The discussion also serves as an introduction to the most analytical and comprehensive of the…

The seven articles of this special issue focus on theory and research related to survey methods and whether evaluators need information that is absent from the larger survey literature. These articles reflect the view that the considerations relating to good survey research apply also to using surveys in evaluation. (SLD)

One of a series of sixteen knowledge transformation papers, this paper presents an educational planning model which incorporates citizen involvement at the local level and provides a more responsive and efficient vocational education system. In the first section techniques are discussed for encouraging community participation, such as general…

The "Institutional Research Bulletin" is a collection of research summaries relating to Kapi'olani Community College (KCC) in Hawaii. Highlights from the 1998 volume (February-December) include: (1) spring 1998 enrollment summary, grouped by demographics and major; (2) patterns of complete withdrawal, 1997-98; (3) repetition and…

The report provides a survey of staff development (SD) managers in 505 English, Welsh, and Scottish further education colleges (227 responses). The objective was to determine how much SD has changed and matured since incorporation, and how much it has created benchmarks. Findings indicated that few staff developers had a relevant SD qualification.…

The essays in this collection attempt to provide a conceptual framework for the process of occupational curriculum development. The collection includes: (1) "Federal Government Involvement in Technical Curriculum Development," by John G. Nealon; (2) "The Challenge of Curriculum Development: From Idea to Reality," by Judith F. Raulf and Marilyn C.…

This paper describes a pilot project at a Janesville (Wisconsin) elementary school, which uses a cooperative teaching approach to integrate all special education and at-risk students, including students with behavioral problems, into general education settings. Key program components include teaming, collaboration, cooperative learning, joint…

The first three steps to developing a program that is both effective and efficient are participant selection, recruitment, and assignment. They require thinking about the populations to be targeted, considering how to open the door to the population and how to get the population in the door, and determining the services that are needed. The Job…

Types of planning and evaluation information already being gathered by the Office for Student Affairs (OSA), University of Minnesota, and recommendations for new efforts in the measurement of the volume of OSA's activities, the costs of OSA services/functions, and quality of OSA programs are examined. It is suggested that planning information in…

Devoted to the role of participation in nonformal education (NFE) activities in enhancing development, this issue consists of an article on participation in NFE activities, descriptions of participatory programs, an annotated bibliography on participation, and a review of various publications related to participation. The lead article, "Can…

The future of gifted education is discussed in this symposium report, which contains the edited presentations of six national consultants and the ensuing discussion among the panelists. The consultants addressed the significance of a report of the U.S. Department of Education entitled "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's…

This monograph provides a status report on issues related to accountability, including standards and assessments, data systems, and the role of incentives for schools, teachers, and students in improving student achievement. Using information gathered from the literature and interviews with state administrators of vocational education, this paper…