This digest summarizes the highlights of an analysis of assessment practices used in education and professional development for educators. A research team from RAND conducted a broad review of the literature and reviewed the documents of organizations engaged in such assessments. Researchers interviewed experts, attended conferences, and conducted…

Noting that growing evidence indicates that high-quality preschool child development programs contribute to the short and long-term development of children living in poverty, this digest summarizes recently reported experimental and quasi-experimental studies of Head Start and similar programs. Recently reported experimental studies include those…

Noting that growing evidence indicates that high-quality preschool child development programs contribute to the short- and long-term development of children living in poverty, this Digest summarizes recently reported experimental and quasi-experimental studies of Head Start and similar programs. Recently reported experimental studies include those…

The heightened interest in college program review is traced to a widespread interest in improving educational quality and the need to respond creatively to financial constraints and external expectations for accountability. Current program reviews have also been designed to aid in decision making about resource reallocation and program…

This digest considers quality in early childhood programs from four perspectives. The top-down perspective, or adults' perspective, on program quality takes into account such program characteristics as adult-child ratio, staff qualifications, and health and hygiene procedures. The bottom-up perspective, or the children's perspective, hinges on…

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) was organized in 1981 as the accrediting agency responsible for reviewing and evaluating counseling and student affairs practice in higher education programs against a set of nationally recognized standards. The CACREP accreditation process incorporates a pattern…

Institutional self-study is an appropriate method for determining quality and demonstrating accountability which can lead to academic and administrative excellence. With a trend toward state and federal government involvement in higher education, colleges will do well to conduct internal program assessments in order to maintain control. A…

The master's degree is reviewed in terms of its current status and rate of conferral, its diversity, standards, and the dominant program models. Changes in the patterns of master's degrees conferred, by discipline, are examined, and problems associated with the proliferation of degrees are noted. Diversity in curricular models is cited as a source…

To achieve accountability, evaluation is needed concerning: the nature, structure, organization, and implementation of school district/building guidance programs; the school counselors and other personnel who are implementing the programs; and the impact the programs are having on students, the schools where they learn, and the communities in…

Pending legislation for the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act mandates the development of performance indicators or standards, which are also called educational indicators, quality indicators, outcome indicators, performance standards, and performance measures. There is general agreement that indicators or standards…

This digest focuses on the contributions counselors can make to help schools achieve educational excellence and enhance both the quantity and quality of student learning. (BH)

As a result of increasing pressure from external constituencies, community colleges have been called upon to demonstrate accountability through assessment activities and research on institutional effectiveness based on student outcomes. Since community colleges include transient student populations, students with a wide range of ability and…

This digest discusses the use of benchmarking as a strategy for assessing and improving efficiency and productivity of administrative processes and instructional models in colleges and universities. Benchmarking, developed by the Xerox Corporation in the 1980s, is defined as an ongoing, systematic process for measuring and comparing the work…

Although evaluation plays many roles in schools--support for administrative decision-making, curriculum improvement, staff development, public relations, instruction, counseling, diagnosing problems for students and staff, planning--recent studies of school district evaluation practices indicate that little overall consistency exists in the form…