In eight chapters, this document offers guidelines for school administrators on evaluating schools and school programs, based on a poll of administrators and consultants. The introduction discusses the purpose of evaluation, especially school improvement, and presents a list of evaluation standards. Chapter 1 outlines steps in evaluation planning,…

As part of its Jobs Initiative (JI) program in six metropolitan areas Denver, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Seattle the Annie E. Casey Foundation sought to develop and test a method for establishing benchmarks for workforce development agencies. Data collected from 10 projects in the JI from April through March, 2000,…

This monograph, part of a series on student assessment, reports on the results of a national survey that examined institutional support for undergraduate student assessment. It provides a national profile of student assessment initiatives at comprehensive institutions and compares it to assessment practices and support patterns found in all types…

A mail survey completed by 62 administrators in colleges of education in Ohio provides descriptive and correlational results about the nature of utilization of needs assessment. A moderately high multiple correlation is found for attitude and involvement, but other independent variables contribute minimally to prediction. (SLD)

Reviews assessment approaches used to evaluate child physical and sexual abuse offenders. Discusses interview and observational methods and problems. Reviews and critiques selected personality measures used to assess child abuse offenders. Reviews offender specific measures. Problems related to the lack of measure specificity and selectivity are…

This guide is intended as a self-evaluation questionnaire for those institutions conducting internal reviews of financial aid programs and of their compliance with federal regulations. It addresses recommended good administrative practices with a view to minimizing incidents of misrepresentation and providing a clear audit trail. Title IV programs…

What can be learned from the experience of analyzing jobs and testing employees in industry that can help advance the goal of assessing and improving college performance is summarized. It is apparent that grades, the traditional way of measuring college performance, do not explain much about one's performance in employment. There are two areas…

Lessons from the 18-year institutional experience of Alverno College in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) with assessment for the improvement and verification of student learning are summarized. Principles are described that should inform a national assessment system with the dual purposes of improvement and accountability by incorporating the following key…

According to the education and training requirements of the Family Support Act of 1988, the Connecticut Department of Income Maintenance (DIM) is required to approve criteria or standards for determining the satisfactory progress of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)/Job Connection clients enrolled in education and skill training…

This benefit-cost evaluation project provides a comprehensive analysis of a school district special education program. The project addressed the need for information on ways to evaluate special education programs and to make programmatic decisions based on evaluation information. Project activities focused on the following four interrelated areas:…

A study examined the information collected by the Department of Defense on both the quality of its new recruits and the effectiveness of its training in preparing recruits to operate in a technologically sophisticated environment. It found that data were collected at a recruit's entrance to military life, during and upon completion of formal…

This pamphlet describes ways in which parents and others interested in education can effectively evaluate the usefulness of educational research. Almost everything that happens in the schools is related to educational research. Parents and concerned others should appreciate its benefits, but should be aware that: not all research is done well or…

This monograph examines educational research and some of the myths surrounding it. The results of educational research strongly influence education. Much research, past and present, is biased. It is necessary to understand that race and sex bias can affect research, to understand how to determine whether bias is present, and to know how to…

Recent developments in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have addressed criticisms of previous assessments and have focused on state education departments as the major clients for test results. NAEP currently indicates progress in academic learning but does not define which aspects of schools are responsible for successes and…

One of the most appropriate quasiexperimental approaches to compensatory education is the regression-discontinuity design. However, it remains underutilized, in part because of the need to clarify the link between the mathematical model and administrative decision-making. This paper explains the derivation of a program efficiency index congruent…