(1) Background: Programmatic assessment optimizes the coaching, learning, and decision-making functions of assessment. It utilizes multiple data points, fit for purpose, which on their own guide learning, but taken together form the basis of holistic decision making. While they are agreed on principles, implementation varies according to context.…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Organizing for Learning Improvement: What It Takes (Andrea M. Pope and Keston H. Fulcher); (2) Editor's Notes: The Leadership Imperatives for Assessment Excellence -- Imperative #2, Attracting and Retaining Talent to Support Assessment Excellence (Stephen P. Hundley);…

An approach to enhancing program quality in educational institutions through program mapping is presented in this report. First, the objective of program mapping is specified as a means to evaluate and clarify the learning outcomes of a college's educational programs; and its use as a graphic representation of the interdependent relationships…

The definition of evaluation as a process of delineating, obtaining and providing information useful for making decisions and judgments about educational programs and curricula highlights the function of evaluative information of assisting decision-making. It reflects the concept of the role of evaluation in informing action at discrete decision…

Six elementary school principals and their staff members, participants in the West Virginia Model Schools Project, used a curriculum evaluation instrument ("Criteria of Excellence") at the beginning and end of a two-year project to improve their reading programs. The results were used to provide formative and needs assessment data,…

Presents a model or classification scheme for the types of information that could be collected to aid in formative evaluation of career education instructional products, and compares professional and legal product directives to conduct educational product evaluation to evaluation science's weak response to these mandates. (Editor/TA)

Presented is a guide for assessing the strength and effectiveness of school mathematics programs and for setting directions for change. The guide lists 21 standards under the headings of Instruction, Curriculum and Instructional Materials, the Teacher, and Physical Facilities and Equipment. In a section titled "Implementation," the guide provides…

A model to assess instructor concerns about, and use of, the innovation or change in classroom procedures and materials has been proposed and tested for its effectiveness in a vocational curriculum area. Indications are that this model has promise for improving the installation of desired change in vocational curricula. (Author)

This document describes the 1993-94 program review process for Austin Community College (ACC), in Texas. First, the goals of program review are briefly reviewed and ACC's mission and instructional philosophy are set forth. The structure and process is then described, indicating that an Instructional Program Review Committee (PRC), formed of two…

This report on curriculum innovation and evaluation contains several sections which deal with procedures for the development of measurement instruments; the uses and limitations of tests; research design and the interpretation of results; a definition of objectives; and the role of evaluation in curriculum innovation. Also included are three…

A system was developed for program evaluation throughout the university. It provides the user with guidelines, procedures, materials, and resources to conduct evaluations for the improvement of teaching skills and methods, course development, and administrative decisionmaking about curricular matters. The evaluation process is intended to be…

In special education, a merger between assessment and instruction is mandated by Federal law (PL 94-142), wherein teachers of handicapped pupils are required to specify individualized educational programs that include procedures for assessing students' progress toward goal attainment. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of…

This book presents a series of case studies in higher education which demonstrate how teams of academics have improved their practice, skill and conditions of learning and teaching through "action research." Action research is defined as collaborative critical enquiry by academics themselves into their own teaching practice, into problems of…

The third year of the contract, 1993-94, was one of culminating activities for the Region F Technical Assistance Center (TAC), as well as a year for preparation for reauthorization. The TAC continued to provide assistance that focused on improving curriculum and instruction across all aspects of Chapter 1. A significant change was the increase in…

Describes the application of a comprehensive planning process to the library media program in the Lincoln (Nebraska) Public Schools. Highlights include identification of program needs; curriculum integration; a study of school library media center collections; use of technology; and essential elements for program change. (eight references) (LRW)