This guidebook focuses on the first of five steps included in a planning system for improving local secondary and postsecondary program and facilities accessibility: identifying barriers. The first five sections of the booklet are comprised of self-instructional descriptions of five needs-assessment procedures that can be used to identify…

This guidebook focuses on the fourth of five steps included in a planning system for improving local secondary and postsecondary program and facilities accessibility: strategy selection. The first of five major sections included in the guide gives an overview of costs associated with providing education for handicapped students, discusses thirteen…

This guide is intended to assist local providers of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) youth employment training in responding to new Department of Labor reporting definitions calling for a sufficiently developed youth employment competency system. The first two sections discuss the concept of sufficiently developed systems in generic terms.…

This monograph contains four position papers and two conference papers from the Systemic Evaluation Project (fiscal year, 1984) on the methodological issues associated with applying a comprehensive information system in a secondary school setting. These papers represent work in progress at a suburban Los Angeles high school field test of systemic…

The Joint Federal/State Task Force on Evaluation (the Belmont Group) is currently developing a Joint Comprehensive Evaluation System (JCES) for the federally funded programs under the federal acts listed above. It is planned that JCES will replace the multiplicity of evaluation systems (and paper work) under the separate existing programs. This…

This book presents a blueprint for using a quality assurance-based approach to planning and developing open and distance learning (ODL) courses in the United Kingdom. The following are among the specific topics discussed: (1) typical aims of ODL (opening access to education; responding to student needs; designing self-study materials; student…

In January 1998-March 2000, a new statistical assessment and referral system to improve the job retention of welfare recipients participating in welfare-to-work programs was piloted in the welfare-to-work program serving two counties in southwestern Michigan. The assessment and referral system is based on statistical methods and uses…

Studies of vocational education and training (VET) students' movement into higher education (HE) typically show that VET students granted admission perform at least as well as other admitted applicants; however, such students are often less likely to gain admission in the first place. A move toward competency-based training (CBT) and a concomitant…

During 1987, the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) focused its evaluation efforts on 12 major categories: exit level, placement, survey achievement, staff development, special education, linking assessment to instruction, adult basic education and high school diploma programs, recordkeeping, employability, guidance, goal…

A study analyzed the characteristics that are most responsible for enabling low-income female heads of household to complete technical training programs. The research project was undertaken for the purpose of developing a comprehensive assessment and support system (CASS) to aid women enrolling at one of three target technical programs at San…

The purpose of this study of modern communications technology in education is to present a systematic conceptual approach for analyzing instructional technology, to identify research and development priorities in less developed countries, and to formulate 26 high priority projects to be undertaken in the coming years. Chapter I summarizes the…

The use and potential of online assessment in Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector was examined. The pertinent literature was reviewed, and 41 Australian and international online designers were interviewed. The following issues in achieving quality online assessment were identified: (1) using the online environment to expand…

Performance level assessment (PLA) is a type of supplementary evidence system for competency-based assessment that is being pilot tested at five technical and further education (TAFE) institutes throughout Queensland, Australia. The PLA system uses the following three levels of performance: competency achieved; competency achieved with credit; and…

Models used for evaluating teacher education programs are described, particularly the learner referencing educational evaluation model. This model involves ten stages: (1) acquisition of possible teacher training program standards; (2) verification of those standards; (3) generation of specific learner objectives; (4) processing of learner…

Research on quality assurance (QA) in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia over the past 6 years was reviewed. Three factors responsible for growing interest in QA were identified: close connections with industry sectors that have gained from the introduction of QA measures; the more competitive training market that has been…