The primary purpose of the District Capacity Assessment (DCA) is to assist school districts to implement effective innovations that benefit students. The "capacity" of a district to facilitate building-level implementation refers to the systems, activities, and resources that are necessary for schools to successfully adopt and sustain…

A Regional Education Agency (REA) functions as a partner with local districts and the State Educational Agency (SEA). REAs provide training, guidance and support intended to enable school districts to operate efficiently and improve their student outcomes. The primary purpose of this Regional Capacity Assessment (RCA) is to assist regional…

This resource is part of a series of reports about challenges facing statewide science assessments and innovative solutions states are enacting to meet those challenges. Deciding to implement a system of assessments is a critical step toward ensuring that all students are getting the high-quality science education they need--but it is also…

Across the country, states and districts are designing principal evaluation systems as a means of improving leadership, learning, and school performance. Principal evaluation systems hold potential for supporting leaders' learning and sense of accountability for instructional excellence and student performance. Principal evaluation also is an…

The "CSE Program Evaluation Kit" is a series of nine books intended to assist people conducting program evaluations. This volume, the first in the kit, provides an overview of evaluation activities and a directory to the rest of the kit. Chapter 1 explicates the evaluation perspective that grounds the kit and describes the role of evaluation in…

Calvert County School District, Maryland, has developed a differentiated teacher evaluation system that promotes collaboration among supervisors and administrators in rating teacher performance. Methods involve informal observation, rating observation, and nonrating observation. Implementation is accompanied by extensive formative evaluation by…

Developing instruction is a critical part of the education process. For instruction to be effective it should be organized and well planned. Development of an effective program should include careful consideration of the need for instruction, the audience, and the course content. Instruction delivered via telecommunications can be even more…

This handbook for using the Entrepreneurship Training Components is divided into six sections. The entrepreneurship project overview discusses the background and purpose of the project, how the modules are organized, what makes these materials unique, module format, and purpose of the handbook. The section on training components examines the…

Guidelines are given for program testing and verification to ensure quality software for the programmer working alone in a computing environment with limited resources. The emphasis is on verification as an integral part of the software development. Guidance includes developing and planning testing as well as the application of other verification…

An instructional improvement program in Hinsdale School District, Illinois, succeeded by emphasizing formative evaluation, administrator evaluation, and long-range planning. Participants learned that a new program should be consistent with district goals, focus on staff development, and acquire top-level commitment and resources. (CJH)

Describes the steps in a systematic approach to: identification of most important competencies for industrial trainers for agency use in developing instructor competencies to select, train, and evaluate trainers: determining need for trainer competencies list; identifying competencies; establishing criteria to judge competencies; and testing…

Formative evaluation consists of assessing educational programs or other kinds of educational products while they are being developed to help shape them into their final forms. This publication is intended for those whose job it is to develop new programs and products or to evaluate them during development. Topics discussed include: (1) the nature…

This guide is designed to help educators plan and carry out evaluations of adult education programs. Following an introduction, Section 2 discusses how the evaluation process fits into the concept and normal cycle of program development. Section 3 describes the stages of the evaluation process, including needs assessment, program planning, process…

The major factors affecting successful recruitment and utilization of school volunteers are reviewed in this booklet. The possibilities opened by such programs and the control that can be exercised over them are stressed in the opening pages of the document to encourage program implementation and assuage unnecessary fears. A 17-step process for…

Varied development projects in several countries are described in this newsletter, which also provides current reviews of development books, and publications available from the Non-Formal Education Information Center at Michigan State University and ERIC. The following articles are included: (1) "From Oral Traditions to Elementary Textbooks:…