Electronic portfolios are a student-centered outcomes-based assessment regime involving learners in the gathering, selection, and organization of artifacts synthesized into a compilation purposed to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and/or achievements supported by reflections that articulate the relevance, credibility, and meaning of the artifacts…

Describes the background of library outsourcing, and discusses the quality of cataloging and physical processing services provided by Blackwell North America and B. H. Blackwell Ltd. during a one-year pilot project at Stanford University (California). At the end of the project, an error rate of less than 1% was achieved in outsourced work.…

Reviews the International School Improvement Project, highlighting its structure, outcomes, and substance, and identifies some of the major characteristics of ISIP knowledge. Compares this knowledge with knowledge emanating from the effective schools literature and suggests areas for future collaboration. Includes 40 references. (MLH)

This paper reports on a computer conferencing pilot project initiated by the Consortium for the Development of Professional Materials for Vocational Education and developed at the Center on Education and Training for Employment at Ohio State University. The report provides an introduction to computer conferencing and describes the stages of the…

Identifies techniques for the formative and summative evaluation of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) based on ITS research, expert systems design, computer-based instruction, education, and psychology. Highlights include criterion-based evaluation, expert knowledge, certification, sensitivity analysis, pilot testing, domain knowledge, student…

This article synthesizes 55 Quebec (Canada) pilot projects on mainstreaming of pupils with learning disabilities, behavior disorders, physical or sensorial handicaps, or mental handicaps, at preschool and elementary levels. It focuses on extent of integration, interventions, training and support for teachers, and evaluation methodology used.…

A description is provided of the experiences of three community colleges in implementing computerized adaptive testing to assess the entry-level skills of students. Chapter 1 provides background information on the project, which utilized The College Board's Computerized Placement Tests (CPT's), a battery of untimed, individualized tests of reading…

A 16-week pilot program, sponsored and carried out by mental health practitioners, created a neutral setting for structured visits of biological parents, their children in placement, and the children's foster parents. Results were sufficiently promising to warrant planning for a more extensive, research-based program. (GLR)

The purpose of this report is to document the pilot test of the Instruction and Learning Appraisal (ILA) and describe the quality of the ILA process. The ILA process was developed by Edvantia staff who serve as technical assistance providers to schools and districts in the region. Low-performing schools and districts (i.e., those that fail to…

Discusses prototype information infrastructure projects in northern California's Silicon Valley. The strategies of the public and private telecommunications carriers vying for backbone services and industries developing end-user infrastructure technologies via office networks, set-top box networks, Internet multimedia, and "smart homes"…

The emergence and purpose of formative evaluation as a tool for curriculum developers is described. It is pointed out that formative evaluation seeks to establish the merit of instructional materials during their development, to modify and improve the design of instructional materials, and to establish their worth so they may be adapted for use in…

Discussion of the growth of telecommunications initiatives in high school instruction in Canada focuses on the Distance Learning in Small Schools pilot project in Alberta. Topics addressed include delivery systems models, teacher response, staffing, concerns about loss of interaction and feedback, design of distance education materials, approaches…

Reports on the first phase of a two-year pilot study of a university-level mathematics requirement that accommodates the needs of developmental students. Finds that the 84% pass rate for this new class format is substantially higher than the 43% pass rate for traditional developmental mathematics courses offered during the same semester. (Contains…

Wyoming, a rural state with a small population scattered over vast geographic areas, brought a compressed digital video network online to connect the University of Wyoming and the State's seven community colleges. The College of Education at the University received a grant to develop a coaching/mentoring model for teacher interns over distance.…

This report is based on an intensive 18-month ethnographic study of 47 young fathers enrolled in Public/Private Ventures' Young Unwed Fathers Pilot Project. It presents a detailed look at selected aspects of the lives of these fathers before and during program participation, as well as outcomes of the pilot intervention. Following an introductory…