This study documented the perceived needs of therapists, specialists, and managers who work with children with intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and concurrent problem behaviours (PBs). Seventy-five respondents from specialized PB and early childhood programs within eight public rehabilitation centres were…

Reasons for frustrations surrounding needs assessment in organizations are examined. Action strategies are paired with three of the root causes of obstacles to effective assessment: (1) flawed needs assessments; (2) no organizational support; and (3) inadequate expertise assigned to the effort. A sidebar presents four possible causes linked to…

Staff development is a basic and essential component of the continuing preparation of teachers, administrators, and other staff. It is one of the major issues facing educators today. The foremost issue in the 1990s is the challenge to expand the traditional emphasis on skill development to include focusing on how educators think and what educators…

A survey of 261 Irish human resource development (HRD) professionals indicates that some HRD responsibilities have devolved to line managers, but less than in other countries. Most conduct systematic needs analysis (especially larger, private sector firms) and rely on informal evaluation mechanisms. (SK)

The manual is intended to aid programs funded by the Handicapped Children's Early Education Program (HCEEP) in designing and implementing staff development programs. Section I presents a working definition of staff development and outlines the preliminary steps necessary before a program is designed and administered. The section delineates the…

A six-stage evaluation model is described for gathering data concerning the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative professional development activities which share common objectives. The model specifies the type of cost effectiveness data to gather and the analysis procedures to use in comparing the relative costs and effectiveness of the…

The difficulty of evaluation of staff development programs is examined in terms of the goals of staff development, the individual and contextual goals, and structural properties inherent in staff development programs. Several guidelines for evaluation are offered. (JMF)

The Detroit Center for Professional Growth and Development, a state-funded teacher center, has prepared a computerized data bank to study patterns of relationships among selected staff development and school characteristics. A description of what the staff development data bank contains and how it obtains information is given. (JN)

The article offers teachers of the deaf guidelines for developing an in-service workshop for other teachers. Five steps in workshop development are proposed as are guidelines for needs assessment, identifying local experts, motivating attendees, selecting delivery methods, and workshop evaluation. (DB)

This monograph reviews and synthesizes highlights from relevant writings on evaluation and suggests interpretations and applications for practitioners who plan and conduct various types of educational programs for adults. It suggests that planning and conducting effective educational programs for adults entails contributions by various…

Study results indicate that proficiency needs of teachers of composition include: (1) teaching/learning strategies for improving student writing ability; (2) applying the writing processes to their own as well as to student writing; and (3) evaluating student writing performance. Findings indicate that teachers need to engage in considerable…

The Georgia Principal Assessment System (GPAS) is a set of practically administered instruments and procedures for assessing performances of school principals. The instruments and procedures were developed over a four-year period of Project Results Oriented Management in Education (Project ROME) at the University of Georgia. Each of the…

This inventory is designed to help educational consultants assess their levels of knowledge and skills in ten broad areas of consulting: communication, entry/intervention, diagnosis, group facilitation, problem-solving, influence/power, resource utilization, conflict management/utilization, and evaluation. The instrument is designed to help…

Training managers increasingly are being asked to document the cost effectiveness of their programs. A cost-benefit analysis program was implemented at the Anchor Hocking Corporation that may be useful for other organizations. The cost-benefit analysis at Anchor Hocking is part of the training system design. The complete training system design…

Ways to monitor staff development programs include: (1) counting the number of participants; (2) obtaining participant reactions to programs; and (3) tracking participants by needs, objectives, and inservice topics. A needs assessment model of staff development focuses on information utilization, program impact, and evaluation approaches. (JN)