Examining moral values and normative criteria in education, it is argued that evaluators are not just social scientists with expertise about scientific methods but also make value judgments about programs, policies, and interventions. Evaluators must consider the ethical assumptions from which they operate in conducting evaluations. (SLD)

Faculty who introduce active learning methods often perceive striking changes in student competence. Describes an assessment strategy designed to determine whether such changes in student skills are observable by independent and unbiased observers. Contains 16 references. (DDR)

This article describes the power and potential of documentation as a effective strategy to make visible the assessment processes in early childhood special education programs. The use of documentation for assessing the progress of two children is described and guidelines are provided for producing documentation panels. (Contains references.) (CR)

Reports on a pilot study completed in preparation for a multisite study of the effectiveness of children's grief support groups. Uses art therapy to assess children's perspectives of their experience in a grief support group. Results of study support the use of art as an effective qualitative tool that can be utilized in future evaluations of…

This interview with Howard Spicker discusses his early leadership in the Head Start programs of the mid-1960s, his establishment of the Indiana University College for Gifted and Talented Youth, and his development of alternative procedures, instrumentation, and programs for gifted students from special populations. His work on Project SPRING is…

The evaluation of the preschool program conducted by the High/Scope Educational Research foundation is an example of a program evaluation that employed a randomized design and also examined long-term outcomes. The study, which employed a 22-year follow-up study, is important for its findings and its methodology. (SLD)

Two chapters of this issue consider critical multiplism as a research strategy with links to meta analysis and generalizability theory. The unifying perspective it can provide for quantitative and qualitative evaluation is discussed. The third chapter explores meta analysis as a way to improve causal inferences in nonexperimental data. (SLD)

Describes a two-year study to determine the relationship between initial evaluations of student placement essays and progress in a developmental writing course sequence at a midsize university. Finds a positive relationship and presents the methodology as a model for assessment, citing its adaptability, minimal costs, and improved program…

Describes activities resulting from a 1997 Minnesota state mandate which called for the development of a statewide virtual university. Measures the results to date against two classification systems and several sets of readiness criteria for virtual universities. Offers recommendations for advancing virtual university partnerships. (Author/DB)

This article provides a matrix to help Individualized Education Program committees consider and document all pertinent information concerning the communication needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Eight key questions to consider are discussed. The matrix lists 10 questions with space to identify the student's skills and needs by…

Explores the future of evaluation by drawing on experiences in a professional evaluation network in Namibia and in the context of world events after September 11, 2001. Culture, diversity, and social justice in evaluation must be framed in timeless and global ways. (SLD)

This study investigated the stability of the four factors in the Quality of Life Questionnaire, an instrument often used in quality of life research for people with intellectual disabilities. Only three of the four factors were found to be stable, raising potential concern over the use of the measure in assessing service providers' effectiveness.…

Examines the role of technology in teaching evaluation, discussing the need to incorporate the principles of good evaluation practice as evaluation systems become increasingly automated. Suggests applications of technology that hold promise for improving evaluation practice, such as teacher-course evaluation systems. (EV)

Demonstrates how the latent growth model can be applied to the evaluation of programs targeting HIV risk behavior among drug users. Multigroup piecewise latent growth models were fit to longitudinal data with three repeated response measures. Participants were 430 drug users and their sex partners. (SLD)

A study explored whether the 95th percentile qualifying score cutoff in use by the Elementary Student Talent Search was appropriate for 2,926 third to sixth graders who took the EXPLORE test. Results indicated participants earn EXLORE scores that are approximately normally distributed and that they compare favorably to eighth-grade norms.…