This document, one of a series of reports examining the possible contribution of other disciplines to evaluation methodology, describes the major elements of general systems theory (GST), cybernetics theory (CT) and management control theory (MCT). The author suggests that MCT encapsulates major concerns of evaluation since it reveals that…

Evaluation studies on educational questions attempt to provide answers in the form of conclusions or inferences which are derived from the information collected. Valid inferences are a result of careful research design for the study, and may be causal, descriptive, value-oriented, or probabilistic. Basic steps in designing an evaluation study are…

Suggestions for broadening the utilization of evaluation research findings are discussed. Major program changes, based on evaluation, may not become obvious for several years; program actions may contradict findings and still be based on rational decision making processes; evaluation findings may have far-reaching effects which were not recognized…

This document reports the first-year activities of Teacher Corps projects demonstrating the training framework entitled, Adaptation of Research Findings. These projects incorporate into their design the results of research, empirical practices and processes that have proven effective and relevant to the educational processes for schools serving…

An information system can be viewed as a symbiotic relation between the users of the system and the system's hardware, software, and data resources. Ideally, performance evaluation of these systems should be based on the achievement of user based criteria while concurrently minimizing resource costs. Current evaluation technologies concentrate on…

This paper describes six existing evaluator-auditor working formats and the conditions which foster credibility of evaluation findings. Evaluators were classified as: (1) member of project developmental team, accountable to project director; (2) independent internal evaluator, accountable to system in general but not to project directors, and (3)…

This report presents the results of a survey of Digital Library Federation members that examined the kinds of assessments they were conducting, what they did with the results, and what worked well or not so well. The first section of the report is an introduction that describes the report structure and summarizes challenges in assessment. The…

A basis is provided for judging the adequacy of evaluation plans or evaluation designs in this document. It is assumed that using the procedures suggested to determine the adequacy of evaluation designs in advance of actually conducting evaluations will lead to better evaluation designs, better evaluations, and more useful evaluative information.…

An example is provided of an evaluation in which the formulation of explicit decision rules was a central activity. The case for and against the use of decision rules in program evaluation is considered, and the appropriate context identified. Implications for the rights of decision makers are addressed. (Author/CTM)

The 1975 Community/Junior College Conference sought to define and describe evaluation, discuss measuring devices, and underscore the ethical reasons for fair evaluation. William P. Gorth began by discussing the purpose of evaluation--to provide data to a specified decision-maker for decision-making--and the implications which could be drawn from…

Involving producing, analyzing, and using information, evaluation is the central discipline of the information age. Both traditional criteria for good evaluation and standards formulated in 1981 prescribe evaluations that are useful, practical, ethical, and accurate. The burning question in evaluation is the utilization of information for…

Evaluation roles used in the Department of Research and Development in the Cincinnati Public Schools are identified and described. These include: project evaluator, local-school evaluator, independent program evaluator, external evaluator and external auditors. The merits of each evaluation role will be discussed as to its relationship with…

The proposed program represents a vehicle whereby Minnesota can conduct a comprehensive assessment of the State's educational progress. It can provide a means of periodically monitoring achievement in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. The program is modeled after the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), an ongoing…

Project SEIC (State Educational Information Center) was funded to increase the demand for and use of educational information, especially ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) information, and to make more cost effective the delivery of information services. To accomplish these goals, Project SEIC first assessed the state-of-the-art of…