Like any other person, Albert Einstein was an informal evaluator, engaged in placing value on various aspects of his life, work, and the world. Based on Einstein's own statements, this paper speculates about what Einstein would have been like as a connoisseur evaluator, a conceptual evaluator, or a responsive evaluator. (Author/BW)

Describes the rationale, structure, and operation of a new evaluation procedure in which pro and con presentations are made to a hearing panel that recommends action on the question posed. Suggestions are made for further improvement and development of this new procedure. (Author)

Value judgments are central to the process of stakeholder-based evaluations. The selection of stakeholder participants involves a value judgment about the power and the legitimacy of the stakeholders. Consequences of stakeholder evaluation may include pseudoempowerment. Suggestions for evaluators for improving stakeholder evaluations are made.…

Recommendations are made to Congress and the Department of Education on evaluation of federally supported education programs. The work covers local, state, and federal efforts to address questions about evaluation procedures and practices, and the use of evaluation results. The recommendations are directed toward improving the quality and…

Summarizes a report from Northwestern University that reviewed Federal evaluation practices of federally supported educational programs at the national, state, and local levels. Considers: (1) evaluation purposes and methods; (2) evaluators' capabilities; (3) use of evaluation results; and (4) ways that evaluation procedures/practices can be…

Presents two different roles mental health professionals play in contested custody cases. Suggests the first, the evaluator of competence model, is more traditional. Advocates the second role, a facilitator of change, which comes out of family therapy theory, focusing on helping the family to change and resolve their issues. (Author/RC)

The Judicial Evaluation Method (JEM) is useful for aiding decision-making bodies to formulate policies. Broad public participation in complex issues is provided by JEM. (The conceptualization, policy formulation stages, and participant roles are identified; and the model is applied in two case studies). (MH)

Beginning in 1970, the Cincinnati Public Schools experienced a shift in emphasis from centralized evaluation to local school program development and evaluation. Three functional models currently operate to evaluate three programs: Title I, alternative integration, and disadvantaged students. Each is distinguished by the level of trust existing…

Following an overview of the need for evaluation training, the Analysis of Evaluation Training Materials Project is described and the coverage, methodology, and usability of materials available for training educational personnel in evaluation skills are considered. Problem areas in evaluation, identified by the National Institute of Education…

The design and testing of a simulation of the planning evaluation process for use in training is presented and its use in a five-day professional workshop is described. Comments are made on this trial run and on the task of evaluation training in general. (MH)

Some special problems associated with evaluating intelligent computer-assisted instruction (ICAI) programs are addressed. This paper intends to describe alternative approaches to the assessment and improvement of such applications and to provide examples of efforts undertaken and shortfalls. Issues discussed stem chiefly from the technical demands…

A theoretical model and a case study are described to support the premise that the ideological levels of members of a social change project must be identified in order to assess their potential for inducing change and to evaluate that change. A conceptual model of the development of a social justice ideology is formulated, and is described as…

Four evaluation methods for determining educational policy are objectivism; subjectivism; emotive-imperative; and instrumentalism. For the objectivist, the rationale for undertaking an evaluation is based on empirical verification or non-verification of claims of existing policies or activities. Secondly, the objectivist is interested in…

A case study approach was used to evaluate the statewide reading improvement project in Louisiana called Special Plan Upgrading Reading (SPUR). SPUR emphasized a change agent approach by providing Technical Assistants and small stipends (approximately $5,000) to participating school districts. During the first two years of the evaluation,…

A naturalistic inquiry approach was used for the collection and interpretation of information on the 138 schools in the Portland, Oregon school system. This approach was an in-person, field based, investigative method, and was nonobtrusive. Factors studied included: description of the school and its setting; the school building and facilities;…