As full-time virtual learning moved from the fringe to the mainstream in mid-March 2020, onlookers expressed concerns about access for learners and accountability for the learning itself. Concerns have not applied only to full-time virtual schools, however. Alternative schools that serve students who have dropped out or transferred from…

This authoritative volume provides state-of-the-art practices for supporting the approximately 20% of today's K-12 students who have emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) that hinder school success. Leading experts present evidence-based approaches to screening, progress monitoring, intervention, and instruction within a multi-tiered framework.…

The paper examines many of the evaluation problems noted by the Phi Delta Kappa National Study Committee on Evaluation and others and sets forth ideas about the practice of formative evaluation to avoid those conflicts and provide educational decision-makers with useful information. The paper also discusses a decision-making model conceptualized…

The Comprehensive Evaluation Model is useful in helping address issues related to program quality, cost-effectiveness, and program improvement. Four levels of program effects can be evaluated: participant reaction, learning, transfer of learning, and organizational impact of the program. (Author/MLW)

Three major stages are outlined for conducting evaluations of nontraditional programs: the preoperational stage, the implementation stage, and the post-operational stage. Utilization of the model in evaluating the Master of Liberal Studies Program at the University of Maine is described. (Author/MLW)

This newsletter comprises four sections: (1) the educational philosophy and objectives of Shanti, a public alternative school in Hartford, Connecticut; (2) Rosen's statements about the difficulties of finding an evaluation model for alternative schools and the implications of the methodology that he later used in evaluating the Shanti school in…

Program evaluation is a tri-level process: evaluation of the learners, of the program against its own objectives, and as compared against a criterion program. Evaluation of innovative programs is primarily an issue of definition, and they should be judged in terms of the needs they were designed to satisfy. (Author/CTM)

The term, nontraditional doctoral program implies the primacy of student interests; the utilization of many modes for learning; the deemphasis of time, space and courses in favor of competence and performance. Features of various nontraditional doctoral programs in education are discussed in this symposium. The different programs vary with respect…

Helping students learn how to learn should be a major teaching objective and a major teaching skill in nontraditional education. Evaluation processes, both in planning and implementation, should be consistent with knowledge, values, and goals of nontraditional education, and their basis should be a theory of adult learning. (Author/LBH)

A perspective of state assessment, state goal-setting, and state standards adoption is presented. Relationships among these three concepts are noted and the relationship of all three to a system orientation is explored. The recent history of national and state assessment is documented. Attention is given in this historical overview to the manner…

California has developed an alternative accountability system for schools with fewer than 100 students, alternative schools of various kinds, community day schools, and other schools under the jurisdiction of a county board of education or a county superintendent of schools. This document is a guide to assist local administrators in completing the…

The adoption of alternative pedagogical philosophies in the classroom has led to an increased use of technology to expand and enhance authentic, contextual learning environments. Correspondingly, these new approaches have also led to a growing dissatisfaction with existing evaluation methodologies to evaluate knowledge. This paper proposes such an…

The purpose of a project was to design and field-test a system for evaluating the adequacy of the vocational curriculum utilized by the Vocational Village, an alternative school for the training of individuals who have experienced failure in other educational settings. Focus was on the development of an evaluation model which will assess the…

Described are the approach of the North Central Association's Commission on Institutions of Higher Education to the evaluation of institutions with off-campus programs, as well as the experiences of Commission staff members in the development of sequential evaluations for institutions with off-campus programs. Considerations made for…

This report presents a model that describes the logical steps that should be implemented to maximize self-renewal in a rapidly changing social environment. The model, which uses a systematic approach to the problems of change and accountability, is designed to assist educators in the continual definition, selection, and implementation of viable…