Purpose: Brokering and buffering represent two ways in which principals may respond to hyperrational elements of policy demands in the current era of accountability. The purpose of this paper is to examine how some principals broker more efficient, measurable, and predictable evaluation practices for teachers and others buffer their teachers from…

This paper describes criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of outcomes-based program review. The criteria were generated from a grounded theory analysis of thirteen institutions whose faculty and administrators have been practicing outcomes-based program review from seven to thirty-two years. Examples of the…

Before teacher evaluation forms can have any significance for educational research their validity and reliability must be established. This study concerns itself with defining the suitability of the criteria-establishing items that may be contained on teacher evaluations. The areas of inquiry are: the rater (evaluator) difficulty level of each…

Presents organizational criteria and implementation techniques that school districts can use to meet their responsibility for accountability to the community. (MLF)

Describes 20/20 analysis procedures (which uses the 20th and 80th percentiles to identify students at the margins who need adapted instruction). Also examines cross-categorical programming, costs, needs for efficiency, accountability, and labeling. A methodology using computerized, multiyear 20/20 analyses to estimate school effectiveness…

The University of Nebraska Lincoln has developed a process for nonacademic program review based on the criteria used for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. This framework provides seven categories of specific criteria that can be applied in institutional self-study to determine the organization's ability to satisfy customers and remain…

The assertion that productivity is declining in education, economists' work on educational production functions, and definitions of efficiency and productivity are discussed in three reports on the economics of education. The measurement and aggregation problems in the determination of productivity changes in education are explained, and three…

Questions and issues related to the assessment of performance in institutions of higher education and the development of performance indicators are addressed. Topics include: institutional objectives, planning and control systems, non-profit performance evaluation techniques, multi-dimensional analysis, and performance indicators. (JMD)

This article discusses how the concept of efficiency in special education services is translated into specific practices. A paradigm is presented that quantifies a measure of student need, ties school allocations to student needs, tracks actual expenditures on special education, and links those expenditures to quantifiable measures of student…

Discusses two approaches for evaluating distance education. One collects six categories of evaluation information (measures): activity, efficiency, outcomes, program aims, policy, and organization. The other identifies key questions needed for effective evaluation and methods for determining outcomes in five areas: accountability, effectiveness,…

The differentiation between efficiency and effectiveness in evaluating the performance of institutions of higher learning is examined and the role of management information systems in the decision-making processes of such institutions is explored. While efficiency is primarily concerned with cost minimization concepts, effectiveness is concerned…

This paper aims to examine current nationwide youth fitness test programs, address problems embedded in the programs, and possible solutions. The current Fitnessgram, President's Challenge, and YMCA youth fitness test programs were selected to represent nationwide youth fitness test programs. Sponsors of the nationwide youth fitness test programs…

This summary of the 1973-74 Michigan Cost-Effectiveness Study describes the results of an exploratory inquiry into compensatory education reading programs in forty-eight Michigan schools. The study is said to have as its purpose the development and implementation of evaluation techniques to determine what educational practices bring about changes…

The 14 papers in this volume address planning and administration of higher education within an international context. Papers are grouped into general studies, regional studies, and national and institutional studies. Included papers are: (1) "Management of Global and Educational Change: Challenges for Higher Education and Graduate…

This document is comprised of the three 2002 issues of a newsletter of the Harvard Family Research Project, designed to share new ideas and experiences in evaluating systems reform and comprehensive child and family services. The Spring issue focuses on family support evaluations and their role in advancing the field of family support and includes…