A survey was conducted of expert instructional design practitioners about their use of developmental testing and revision procedures. The degree of correspondence was examined between published recommended practice and actual practice, as reported by 90 respondents to a questionnaire. The surveyed sample were members of the National Society for…

In 1981, the developers of a school-based change effort engaged researchers to conduct an evaluation study employing qualitative methodology that would provide the developers with information that could be used to improve the program. Resource constraints, short timelines, and the developers' preference for useable information encouraged…

This paper describes an ongoing comprehensive model of program evaluation which has as its major goal the improvement of teacher education. This project, developed at the University of Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada), is presented in four parts: (1) the process--how and why the project developed or is developing as it is; (2) the conceptual…

The research and development (R&D) projects funded by the Florida Division of Vocational Education are intended to have utility for vocational educators in their efforts to improve vocational education programs and practices. This project was conducted to determine why some R&D products are accepted by potential users while others are not…

This document presents the four case studies that constituted the major sources for "Teacher Evaluation: A Study of Effective Practices" by the same authors. The study was undertaken to find teacher evaluation processes that produce information useful to school districts in helping teachers improve or in making personnel decisions. The…

The guide describes an assessment procedure that can be used by sparsely populated communities located near a potential development to help predict where the incoming population will choose to live and shop. First, a numerical model, the "gravity model," is presented which utilizes community size and the distance from the community to…

This guide describes the New York State assessment process as a framework for other districts aiming to develop an effective approach to performance assessment. In 1984-85 the New York State Board of Regents initiated the Comprehensive Assessment Report (CAR) as a process of reporting and using education results throughout the state. The…

The process developed and implemented by the Eastern Iowa Community College District (EICCD) to evaluate its vocational and technical programs is described. The process provides for the flow of information and recommendations from the faculty through administrative ranks to the Chancellor of the District. The EICCD is comprised of three colleges…

This paper presents a discussion of several factors which influence evaluation utilization. Its purpose is to propose to Alkin's utilization framework the addition of one factor: multiplexity of data gathering methods. Two distinct discussions comprise this paper. First, supportive arguments for the assumption that this factor substantially…

Graduate students in a program evaluation class carried out small case-study evaluations, and examined the participants' reactions to the evaluation report. The programs included an experimental high school drama course, a high school music apprenticeship program, and a sixth grade computer course on problem solving. There were three phases of…

A guide to the evaluation and improvement of teaching was developed by the University of Washington Committee on the Evaluation and Improvement of Teaching and the university's Instructional and Faculty Development Board. The handbook contains questions and problems that departments are likely to confront in designing an evaluation program…

The use of exit surveys at the University of Washington was investigated. Objectives were to identify (1) how many departments or programs employed department-generated exit surveys to gather information from graduating students, (2) the type of information collected and its use by departments, and (3) criteria for determining the usefulness of an…

Qualitive data from interviews with individuals and observations of group meetings were gathered from 16 school districts that participated in a study of school district uses of evaluation and test data. The findings are organized around a series of discrete topics presented in a set of independent papers. The title essay, "Working Knowledge,"…

Important factors in assessing performance of handicapped individuals in transitional, supported employment include secondary school vocational performance, assessment and placement, resources for supported employment, and on-the-job performance, and the social ecology of the workplace. (CB)

The author advances the argument that evaluation is unique not in purpose, but in environment. The evaluator operates within ethical, organizational, and political contexts in order to achieve utilization of a context-responsive evaluation. (LMO)