Assignment of ESEA Title III monies to State agencies mandates a research model for needs assessment to facilitate interstate comparisons and generalizations. Theoretical postulates for and empirical evidence from the Virginia Needs Assessment Project suggest a prototype design, moving in three phases from ideas into program outcomes. Phase I…

An overview of the system analysis approach to evaluation and the psychometric models currently proposed to evaluate Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I projects is presented. It is argued that, in America's Pacific possessions, the sole use of the systems analysis approach to evaluation fails to provide adequate information to…

This collection provides a new perspective for understanding what assessment can do to promote continuous improvement in education. The concepts of systems thinking, continued learning, mental models, shared vision, and team building are highlighted in the selections, which include: (1) "A Systems Approach to Assessing School Culture"…