Assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning process in both conventional and distance education contexts. Literature suggests that with the increase in the use of Information and Communications Technology in the delivery of learning, a number of institutions are resorting to formative assessment practices that are mediated by…

In preparing this report, reviewers visited a sample of four colleges, detailed in Appendix 1. They also drew on the findings of published Education Scotland external reviews of colleges, and examined other relevant publications and reports. They consulted and held focus groups with key stakeholders, including the Scottish Qualifications Authority…

This article presents key findings from a Joint Information Systems Committee-funded project, which aimed to identify existing practices where technologies contribute to formative assessment and identify processes that take place around formative assessment where technologies play a significant role. Using a design pattern methodology, the project…

This report describes a web-based assessment design tool, the Assessment Design and Delivery System (ADDS), that provides teachers both a structure and the resources required to develop and use quality assessments. The tool is applicable across subject domains. The heart of the ADDS is an assessment design workspace that allows teachers to…

The findings from recent Canadian research indicate that while agency managers and front-line workers agree that evaluation is important, they seldom evaluate their work with clients. With the current emphasis on evidence-based practice and outcome-focused intervention, it is important to be able to demonstrate the value of career services in a…

The paper describes Quality Service Management (QSM) as applied to the provision of services to disabled and other special needs persons. QSM is defined as a systems approach to consumer relations based on the belief that quality care may be achieved only within the context of overall services management. Differences among "quality…

The first Niagara County Comprehensive Plan submitted to the New York State Division for Youth in 1977 articulated as its first priority a youth service delivery system. The attainment of this objective involved the simultaneous development of a self-evaluation procedure, which could be used as a basis for decision making. Thirteen social service…

Characteristics of new information technologies have implications for their evaluation. The instability of most technologies, and their novelty for most users, calls into question the value of experimental summative studies. Their interactive character challenges the traditional formative paradigm. Case studies and field experiments can help to…

This review of the state of educational evaluation, which is directed to both those who produce and those who consume evaluation data, suggests that certain prevalent evaluation practices are seriously out of step with, and inappropriate for, current mainstream instructional activity. Evaluation is recommended as not merely an appendage to…

Describes the development of INTERACT, a videotext system in which information and graphics were designed using a systematic multistage formative approach. The assessment of information needs is explained, and results of an evaluation completed after five weeks of operation in the student center at Syracuse University are discussed. (Author/LRW)

This book for state early childhood licensing administrators addresses the problem of obtaining systematic and reliable information about the operation of an early childhood or child care program. The book: (1) provides an introduction to early childhood program evaluation; (2) describes systematic observation techniques; (3) discusses summative…

This guide focuses on appropriate techniques for the evaluation of electronic media educational programs. Such evaluation helps to provide the educator with the feedback that is missing whenever there is no direct contact with students, and also with information on the relative worth of an educational program. The four-part publication includes:…

This discussion draft of a conceptual framework for monitoring children's services was prepared by Peat, Marwick and Co. for the Children's Services Monitoring Transfer Consortium (CFMCS), an organization spanning five states: California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. The primary purpose of this conceptual framework was to…

Instructional development provides a procedure and framework for systematically planning, developing, and adapting instruction based on identifiable learner needs and content requirements, a process essential in distance education. Although instructional development models and processes abound, the majority follow the same basic stages of design,…

In 1976 the Special Emphasis branch of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention made $10 million available for the development of 11 diversion programs. A national evaluation of these programs was promoted in the hope of better understanding the viability of diversion as an alternative to traditional practices. The impact of…