This "What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 3.0)" provides a detailed description of the standards and procedures of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The remaining chapters of this Handbook are organized to take the reader through the basic steps that the WWC uses to develop a review protocol, identify…

The Lincoln County School District in Oregon evaluates its 18 principals two or three times each year through a team evaluation program. The evaluation process includes a comprehensive assessment form detailing 26 standards of performance. Includes a sidebar outlining the eight areas and standards for evaluation. (MD)

The basic understanding which underlies scientific evidence--ideas such as the structure of experiments, causality, repeatability, validity and reliability--is not straightforward. But these ideas are needed to judge evidence in school science, in physics or chemistry or biology or psychology, in undergraduate science, and in understanding…

An overview of four models of naturalistic evaluation of arts education is presented for visual arts education administrators: illuminative, responsive, criticism, and naturalistic. The first method is illuminative evaluation. It focuses on description and interpretation, rather than standardized measurement and control. Concentrating on the…

The School Improvement Project (SIP) and Local School Development Project are two school-based constituency planning programs. The Documentation Unit is responsible for ongoing documentation and evaluation of them. The goals of the unit included holistic school assessment, development of school based needs assessment and evaluation activities, and…

Outlines a principal evaluation program developed for Lewisville, Texas, that uses a questionnaire covering the eight areas originally included on the principal evaluation form. The principals are evaluated from their answers to the questionnaire. (MD)

Proposes a method for evaluating courseware as an integral part of curriculum, based both on "curriculum commonplaces" (the curriculum content and all that surrounds it) and on educational values and beliefs; an evaluative matrix is offered, with the commonplaces arrayed along one axis, values and beliefs along the other. (MCG)

The methodology of participant observation in evaluation research is described. The author cites examples of its use and includes references to additional sources of information. The characteristics of participant observation, appropriate circumstances for use, and specific techniques of this method are examined. (Author/DWH)

The primary assumption behind the development of this guide is that program managers, faced with the responsibility of designing and planning an educational program, or modifying an existing resource system, might profit from a better understanding of the nature of needs assessment. The first section of this guide presents an overview of needs…

This author recommends a comprehensive evalution of education construction projects 11 months following their substantial completion, when users have had sufficient time to identify true weaknesses, original intentions have not been forgotten, shortcomings in materials or the construction process will have appeared, and one year warranties have…

Several ideas for questions and settings for interviews are presented. It is noted that although subtraction is used as an example in each case, most of the material can be easily adapted to the other basic operations. Many problems are noted with standard diagnostic tests and use of them is discouraged. (MP)

This manual provides the steps in planning a post-occupancy evaluation of library facilities to determine how effective the designed environment is for users. Evaluating a building provides a feedback loop to the planning process and can help fine tune the building or help others. The first actions of the planners are to clarify the purpose; gain…

Before vocational instructional products are adopted for statewide dissemination in South Carolina, they must undergo a field test. An effective field test design incorporates collection of data about the instructional products, the students, and the teachers who use the products. The design of a control group and an experimental group compares…

This handbook reviews several methods for conducting a needs assessment, including surveys, observation, testing, public hearings, spatial analysis, and conferences. A detailed section on the development of questionnaires is provided, and the appendices include samples of questionnaire information handouts, a nominal group process technique,…

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…