The National Academy of Education (NAEd) undertook this consensus report on the evaluation and improvement of teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Specifically, this consensus report aims to (1) identify and disseminate best practices for evaluating and improving TPPs to promote teacher effectiveness and student achievement; (2) provide…

A nine point checklist is provided as a guide to critically evaluating research reports. The checklist includes questions on these components: soundness of theory base, statement of the problem, definition of the variables, description of the population, type of research design, reliability and validity of test instruments, consistency of results…

Importance-performance analysis, a marketing research technique using analysis of consumer attitudes toward salient product or service attributes, is found useful for colleges and universities in developing marketing strategies, particularly when competition is considered as an important dimension. Data are drawn from a survey of 252 students at 1…

This study attempted to identify efforts to evaluate programs for gifted and talented students in 122 Texas school districts and to compare these practices with those recommended in the literature and with Texas Education Association guidelines. Areas examined included informal and formal assessment of student and teacher identification practices,…

The Project on Secondary Analysis directed its attention to methodology and policy issues, focusing on reanalysis of existing data (1979-82)--surveys, program evaluations, etc.--as a vehicle for learning how to improve methods of obtaining and analyzing data, designing program evaluations, and constructing policy to enhance the quality and utility…

Reports on a program held at the 1986 American Library Association Conference which offered a model for locating and evaluating existing research on libraries. Six guidelines for evaluating research are provided, and small group sessions which evaluated actual research and talked directly with researchers are described. (EM)

This paper translates research findings on systematic preference assessment with individuals with nonsymbolic or limited symbolic communication skills into guidelines for planning such assessments to reduce the risk of missing or misinterpreting the person's preferences. It offers four questions for guiding the planning of preference assessments,…

Coordination between research and practice in performance appraisal is essential. Specifically, researchers should focus on utilization methods while practitioners should focus on appraisal content. Cognitive process research may increase raters' ability to judge accurately but fails to address raters' willingness to provide accurate ratings. (BL)

The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is a comprehensive youth health risk and resilience data collection service sponsored by the California Department of Education (CDE). This part of the guidebook will assist practitioners in understanding, interpreting, and deriving the maximum benefit from the CHKS results. It provides a basic road map…

The desirability of a comprehensive assessment of social welfare students is suggested. The multidimensional system of grading is described as a flexible approach to better student evaluation, which complements performance-based curriculum designs. The synergistic effects of a set of objective assignments in a social work research course is…

There is a need for cross-disciplinary or cross-institutional research on student learning outcomes in graduate and professional education. Challenges in this endeavor include determining the purposes of assessment and who conducts it, identifying and defining outcomes, and managing the use of results. (MSE)

The drawbacks of the common practice of using check-lists for teacher evaluation include inadequate measurement that emphasizes evaluation only, lack of objective data gathering techniques, and lack of reliable and consistent teacher performance criteria. An inservice program for school principals was designed to improve their observation and…

This paper shares the outcomes of a developmental process designed to create a comprehensive teacher assessment program within a local school district. The paper includes a rationale that helps to explain the need for developing teacher evaluation systems different from most current models, the processes used to create the assessment program, and…

One of a series of papers developed as part of a project to improve planning and evaluation in community colleges, this working paper discusses the outcomes approach to evaluation in higher education and describes current projects utilizing outcomes measures in community colleges. Section I defines the outcomes approach as an analysis of the end…

One of a series of papers resulting from a Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) project, this handbook describes procedures for documenting the learning students take with them from college. Introductory material on the FIPSE project and the learner outcomes approach to college evaluation is followed by a discussion of…