"Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning" presents a clear and carefully tested blueprint for school leaders. It shows how examining test scores and other classroom data can become a catalyst for important schoolwide conversations that will enhance schools' abilities to capture…

This document is the fifth volume in a set of five Career Education Measurement Handbooks intended to help local education personnel in measurement and evaluation. Divided into seven chapters, this handbook is designed to provide practical guidelines for using observational techniques to take readings of the feelings, perceptions, and reactions of…

Evaluation studies on educational questions attempt to provide answers in the form of conclusions or inferences which are derived from the information collected. Valid inferences are a result of careful research design for the study, and may be causal, descriptive, value-oriented, or probabilistic. Basic steps in designing an evaluation study are…

This document is the fourth volume in a set of five Career Education Measurement Handbooks intended to help local education personnel in measurement and evaluation. Divided into thirteen units, this handbook is designed to show how evaluation can help improve the accountability of career education programs. Each unit is written to stand alone, and…

Evaluators of basic units in higher education should be explicit about the motives, object, organization, criteria, methods, dissemination, and impacts of evaluation efforts to avoid being counterproductive. (Author/MSE)

Sixteen vocational education evaluation problems which indicate the present situation in the states are discussed, and alternative solutions to them are suggested in this report. Each problem represents a situation that should be remedied or a need that must be met and was found to be common to a number of states attempting to develop or improve…

Followup studies of former students provide important information for higher education institutions. Careful planning, early involvement of users of the information, and multiple data presentation strategies are some keys to success for such studies. (MSE)

The results of student outcomes studies are of little value if they are not used in institutional planning and decision-making. Use of results can be made more effective if researchers understand the obstacles to information use on most campuses and tailor their presentations to overcome them. (Author/MSE)

This booklet provides questions and answers that point to the increasing interest that states have in developing, shaping, and evaluating the success of schools. The booklet highlights the analysis and recommendations of representatives of 10 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New…

This book describes how schools can develop and utilize portfolios as frameworks for evaluating school reform. The portfolio is a nonthreatening self-assessment tool that exhibits a school's goals, progress, achievement, and vision for improvement. Chapter 1 examines the school portfolio as an effective and positive, ongoing monitoring system that…

The results from high-stakes assessments have often been used to merely grade and rank schools and students. But a new trend is emerging, according to this brief. Educators are beginning to see the power of using assessment data to improve instruction. This brief discusses ways to use data to improve instruction at the school, classroom, and…