To help administrators improve school efficiency in a time of financial constraints, this document reviews research on school productivity, points out possible improvements suggested by the research, and discusses several problems in measuring school costs and effectiveness. The author first explains the analytical concepts of school productivity,…

The discrepancy evaluation model (DEM) specifies that evaluation consists of comparing performance with a standard, yielding discrepancy information. DEM is applied to programs in order to improve the program by making standards-performance-discrepancy cycles explicit and public. Action-oriented planning is involved in creating standards; a useful…

Following a discussion of a number of objective methods of program evaluation, the author recommends a more subjective or existential model. Described briefly are the behavioral objectives model, the goal-free model, the systems analysis model, the decision-making model, the accreditation and adversary models, and the transactional model. The…

Educational indicators are statistical input/output measures providing information on the health of the educational system. This report for the consideration of the Council of Chief State School Officers characterizes the current state of educational indicators as in "shambles." It proposes a three phase framework for developing a sensitive and…