In order to teach science well, science teachers need to know what to focus on in order to ensure their assessment of student learning is meaningful and useful for the students' on going learning and development. The diversity and range of content and skills within the subject of science mean that the assessment capabilities required by…

Evaluation must take into account both executive and legislative politics and their interactions. A five-part continuum evaluation process is suggested for the development of a policy question and its translation into knowledge that is credible, timely, responsive, and usable. Evaluators have a major responsibility in this process. (Author/JAZ)

The four studies reported in this paper examined the relationship between locus of control and (1) preferences for evaluation strategies, (2) kinds of information seen as useful in decision making, (3) values placed on the usefulness and worth of evaluation, and (4) group interaction in decision making. (BW)

This report presents the results of a yearlong study of the process of evaluation use in a large city school district. Based on extensive naturalistic data-gathering, the research documents how local school administrators use evaluation information generated by the district's research and evaluation unit. The significance of the research is the…

This investigation employed an in-basket simulation to assess the effect of provisional analysis on the use of evaluation data by program administrators in making program decisions. Sixty-five volunteers from graduate education courses and 52 volunteers from undergraduate educational psychology classes at Western Kentucky University were randomly…

Available research suggests that personal characteristics of decision makers, influence how information is used. Results of three studies presented in this article indicate that locus of control in educational decision-making settings is related to (1) knowledge of superintendent support; (2) type of audience; and (3) context of the program.…

This report presents recommendations to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to guide it in assessing its initiatives in science education. The report outlines appropriate goals, procedures, arrangements, and resources necessary to establish an effective set of assessment practices that build on existing assessment activities in the Foundation,…

In supporting science education, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is, in some instances, funding the enrichment experiences of individual students, but more often it is supporting efforts to improve complex, decentralized education systems. Many feel that the Foundation's best chance for success lies in a grant support strategy that targets…

The study summarizes discussions and conclusions of the Regional Workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation of Rural Development Projects in East Africa (Nairobi, Kenya, April 1979), whose purpose was to share lessons learned from field experiences in managing information for rural development. An initial section summarizes information in papers…

This project is concerned with the development of procedures and plans for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to use in assessing its initiatives on an ongoing basis. This work is meant to complement another review of NSF's investment opportunities by estabishing a sound basis for designing and carrying out assessments aimed at any of the…