At most Canadian and American community colleges and universities, student ratings have been implemented as a means of evaluating course instruction. Although concerns regarding the validity of student ratings from instructors' perspectives have been studied quite extensively, issues associated with the use of student ratings information by…

Based on experiences in conducting program evaluations for the Canadian Federal Government, an evaluator addresses reconciliation of the information needs of managers and accountability. External and internal accountability are covered. Using the perspectives of both line managers and senior managers, means of resolving pertinent issues are…

Developed an instrument to evaluate the performance of educational administrators at a Canadian medical school. After 3 yearly evaluations, 20 administrators and 80 evaluators acknowledged broader input into evaluation, but saw little evaluation-related improved performance. (SLD)

A survey of 90 teachers of agriculture, 15 administrators, and 95 teacher educators indicates that evaluation and research methods have been adopted in agricultural education preparation in 9 Nigerian states. The extent to which these methods are perceived as important by education students is not clear. (SLD)

The extent to which evaluation results answer different stakeholders' needs was explored in the evaluation of a business English course at Van Leer Institute for the Development of Executive Assistants in Tel-Aviv (Israel), using diagnostic tests. Students (n=52), teachers, curriculum team, and administrators could use the evaluation results. (SLD)

Because of increased aid to developing nations, cross-cultural evaluation has become more common. Whether culture has an influence on evaluation was studied by simulating a study of Mexican and U.S. agricultural administrators. Results demonstrate the effects of cultural differences on evaluation. (SLD)

This report is part of a study of school districts in British Columbia (Canada), and deals with school district ethos--interest in defined focal areas--both as a measure of school district quality and as a potential predictor of student achievement. The study concentrates on one of these focal areas--holding schools accountable through monitoring.…

The influences within the Ontario educational system perceived by teachers, department heads, and principals as affecting their evaluation policies and practices were studied. Interviews were conducted in the 1987-88 school year as part of the Ecology of Evaluation research project conducted in Ontario and British Columbia. About 50 elementary and…

The legitimate uses of new instruments for the selection and appraisal of principals, factors influencing use of these instruments, and safeguards to minimize misuse are discussed. Performance appraisal systems in education have been used legitimately to ensure that principals meet minimum performance standards, and for promotion. Another valuable…