After months of waiting, the grant reviews came back: "excellent," "excellent," and "fair." What?! How can this be? Why is the third review so out of line with the first two? On more than one occasion a principal investigator (PI) has been frustrated not only by a negative funding decision but more so by the accompanying reviewer evaluation forms…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the reasons for resistance to evaluation and the factors that affect adoption of new procedures, while focusing on a model for guiding the planning of evaluation implementation strategies. The process of adoption of an innovation occurs in three stages: orientation, where the user identifies benefits;…

Discussed is the issue of the appropriateness of applied science approaches to evaluation in environmental education. The relationships between characteristics of applied science approaches to evaluation and the special characteristics of environmental education are explored. (Author/YP)

Described is a rationale and process that can be used for the evaluation of environmental education programs. Expectations, planning, results, and using results are all discussed as steps in the evaluation process. (CW)

This commentary on the mismeasurement of language and reading comprehension abilities argues that quantitative measures of complex behaviors and subsequent ranking of individual performance often do not accurately reflect the abstract constructs they purport to measure, and inappropriate quantification and ranking create and perpetuate potentially…

Rather than automatically presuming explicit conditions exist when designing an evaluation to fit the summative or formative mold, evaluators should think of an evaluation design as fitting between endpoints on an evaluation process continuum. Evaluators can blend techniques from both the formative and summative evaluation, matching actual program…

Argues for a diverse response to the issues and objectives concerning assessment. Highlights a wide variety of assessment procedures from foreign schools, each one relevant to the local culture and educational objectives. Discusses the inherent dangers in overemphasizing, as well as underemphasizing, assessment. (MJP)

A survey addressing the fairness of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Design for School Excellence (DSE) Merit Schools program was administered to school principals in March, 1986. The questionnaire was developed by a representative committee of elementary and secondary principals and central office personnel not directly involved in the original development…

Discussions were held with administrative staff and evaluators from the New York City Public Schools in order to identify sources of data for evaluating special education programs. Data which are generally available include: (1) citywide reading test scores; (2) number of diplomas issued; (3) number of students decertified; (4) number of students…

A study was conducted to explore the stability of the selected indicators of merit in relation to the explicit purposes of identifying merit schools in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public School system Design for School Excellence Program. A school could achieve merit either based on high status in achievement, attendance, and attitude, or on gain scores…

Discusses the evaluation of educational software designed for use with microcomputers, and emphasizes the need for criteria based on learning theories rather than technological considerations. A review of the literature highlights teacher training in software selection and predictive evaluation, and 49 references are included. (Author/LRW)

For Texas's Career Ladder System of rewarding good teachers, teachers' performance evaluations from 1981 to 1984 were used to rank teachers in the Austin Independent School District. Significant biases were noted between raters, between years, and between elementary and secondary teacher ratings. To adjust for these biases, each teacher's raw…

The evaluation team of the Lincoln Public Schools (Nebraska) used the multi-attribution utility technology (MAUT) approach to prioritize potential evaluation projects. The priorities were used to allocate resources to the district's most important projects, and to eliminate or scale down less important projects. The problem was caused initially…

Described is the Graded Assessment in Science Project (GASP). Students' attitudes toward this program were assessed using essays, questionnaires, and interviews. The results, conclusions, and cautions about this program are included. (KR)

Reviews the Standard Assessment Tasks used to evaluate pupil performance relative to the National Curriculum in England and Wales. Asserts that the system of assigning students to one of 10 levels of attainment is criterion-referenced, whereas the test is norm-referenced. (CFR)