The author sets out three reasons for a school to engage in a self-evaluation: social, economic, and professional accountability. From this, he indicates the different forms such an evaluation might take in practice. (Author/SJL)

Discusses the importance of distinguishing between the different purposes of teacher evaluation programs, focusing on the differences between evaluations conducted to aid teacher self-improvement and evaluations conducted to aid administrative decision-making. (JG)

A microeconomic paradigm is proposed for the evaluation of special education in schools. The special education process is described in three phases: referral to special education by the classroom teacher; special classroom program; and mainstreaming. The relationship between referral by teachers, classroom resources, and students' desirable…

In July 1996, California began its Class Size Reduction (CSR) Initiative. To gauge the effectiveness of this initiative, an analysis of its objectives and an overview of proposed strategies for evaluating CSR are presented here. An outline of the major challenges that stand between CSR and its mission are provided. These include logistical…

The authors argue that most current modes of formative and summative teacher evaluation are fundamentally unproductive. Unproductiveness stems from focusing upon efficiency rather than effectiveness, post rather than future performance, individual rather than organizational performance, and authoritarian rather than collegial relationships.…

This paper offers a guide for a dual purpose evaluation plan that can provide information for local program managers and simultaneously serve the accountability and reporting needs of a state legislature, district office, or other policy making body. The dual focus approach has two advantages: (1) it provides a common information base for…

While addressing alternative methods of conducting school district and classroom needs assessment, this booklet outlines the purposes and methods of needs assessments and reviews the needs assessment requirement in the South Carolina Defined Minimum Program. Needs assessments programs from five districts of varying size are described and presented…

Addresses issues involving the transition to an evaluation emphasis in counseling and offers a stimulus for developing new approaches for evaluating the effectiveness of what counselors and clients do together. Claims that new ways to gather evidence attesting to client change are needed, as is an expanded, collaborative model for evaluation. (RJM)

There are not enough incompetent teachers around to warrant building evaluation systems solely to get rid of them. To be effective in terms of increasing student learning, teacher evaluation programs should focus on helping competent teachers become better. The individualized performance objective or job target approach can do this. (SJL)

A review of the literature about practices in evaluating art education programs led to the design of the new evaluation model described in this paper. The literature review revealed that a growing number of authors advocate qualitative methods, and that a debate exists regarding the combination of qualitative and quantitative data gathering and…

Several aspects of national competency tests are discussed: two conceptualizations; arguments pro and con; the federal perspective; a distillation of support and opposition to arguments judged unique to national competency tests; and a hypothetical procedure for implementation. (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…

This publication describes a practicum project that developed a comprehensive educational evaluation system for collecting, storing, and displaying pertinent data for use in planning educational programs at both the district and school level in the City School District of New Rochelle. The resulting New Rochelle Evaluation Model was developed from…

The Ontario (Canada) Ministry of Education developed a six-stage evaluation model for local school districts that emphasized the values of involvement, communications, self-evaluation, cooperation, comprehensiveness, continuity, and coordination. The model includes the four components of people, purposes, programs, and products. The initiation and…

Seven considerations in designing the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System are reviewed: satisfying state, local, and federal needs; summative evaluation; differences in Title I subprograms; local use of different achievement tests; comparative analysis data; use of approved evaluation designs; and use of a common reporting metric. (MH)