The use of the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) to improve early childhood education program quality is based in part on assumptions that the quality of programs can be measured and that quality ratings are associated with meaningful differences in learning outcomes for children. This report reviews all of the state QRIS validation…

The ECERS-R is a thorough revision of the widely used program quality assessment instrument, the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Designed for use in preschool, kindergarten, and child care classrooms serving children 2-and-a-half through 5 years of age, the ECERS-R can be used by program directors for supervision and program…

Author attempts to determine whether testing perpetuates a misevaluation of children's abilities. (Editor/RK)

This technical assistance paper answers the question, "How can quality education programs for young children be assured?" by addressing four issues: components of quality early childhood programs, measures to counteract pressures for inappropriate practices, types of early childhood programs, and program evaluation methods. The paper…

Intended for parents of infants and preschoolers with visual impairments, this booklet encourages parent involvement in all aspects of educational programming for their children and provides guidelines for selection of a suitable program. The first section examines the stresses involved during transitions from one program to another. Parents are…

Seven fundamental questions pertinent to the evaluation of inservice personnel training programs are listed: 1) To what extent is useful, need-oriented, and relevant training provided to personnel participating in the program? 2) Are the trainees mastering the various tasks, competencies, data etc. being provided in the various elements of the…

Noting the importance of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) for teaching kindergarten students, this guide with accompanying videotape is designed to help kindergarten practitioners assess their classroom's level of readiness. The guide discusses the concept of kindergarten readiness as including the capacity of kindergarten classrooms and…

A process is outlined for developing an evaluation form that meets the following criteria: is relevant at local, state, and federal levels; short; objective; usable; statistically manageable; analytic; and fiscal. With standards in mind, the next step is to specify the kinds of information needed to meet state and federal requirements. Once the…

This guide is designed to provide a framework and sequence for working jointly with adult learners to confirm their disability, assess their functional needs, select appropriate accommodations, provide instruction for using accommodations, and monitor accommodation effectiveness. In addition to procedural information, the guide contains instructor…

The evaluation system used by the District of Columbia Public Schools is explained. Information is organized to assess four categories: students; instructional personnel; classroom characteristics; and reading programs. The system is used to provide basic profiles and comparative information for four areas of planning: (1) needs assessment; (2)…

During the report period the researchers were primarily engaged in the spring data collection and in drawing up the outlines of the 1971-72 and 1972-73 phases of the study. This activity involved a great deal of conceptualization and inspection of raw data, toward the end of clarifying the theoretical frame of reference and the purpose and…

The Columbia Classroom Environments Project (CCEP) report discusses a number of questions about a set of dimensions of learning and development as well as the instruments the project was developing for the analysis of behavior in learning environments. Joseph C. Grannis examines The Argument, Assumptions, Definitions, Hypothesis; Rochelle Mayer…

This report is organized into seven chapters. Chapter One, an Introduction by Joseph C. Grannis, includes the most relevant sections of the proposal made by the Columbia Classroom Environments Project (CCEP) to Project Follow Through in August 1970. Chapter Two is an Analysis of the Child Behavior Stream Observations from the Spring 1971 Study of…

The study reported in the first part had two major goals: the construction of a pupil role interview schedule and the use of this interview to measure the influence of different programs in Project Follow Through on pupil role development. The second part of this report concerns a content analysis done by the Columbia Classroom Environments…

Intended for adult education administrators and instructors, the purpose of this handbook is to provide practical information on the legal rights and responsibilities of adult education programs and of students with disabilites related to providing and obtaining accommodations. The Handbook contains specific information about disabilities,…