The need for educational programs to show their return on investment is exemplified in the intense debate surrounding gainful employment programs--defined as programs that lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation and theoretically differ from programs that offer education in the liberal arts or prepare students for further education.…

Assessing general education is not that different from assessing any other type of academic program, but there are some distinctions that make it even more challenging than other types of assessment. This article addresses methods for working with nondepartmentally based and interdisciplinary areas within general education, providing some examples…

In 2006, six community and technical colleges in Washington State joined the innovative national reform initiative called Achieving the Dream (ATD). This report describes the progress each college made in implementing ATD's "culture of evidence" principles for institutional improvement, examines strategies implemented by the colleges to…

Ohio's Butler Tech has been able to improve its student performance results from near the worst in Ohio to among the best in six years. At Butler Tech, performance measures are collected and analyzed on a regular basis at all levels of the institution to serve as constant feedback on how well the school is educating its students. In this article,…

This publication provides a framework that is designed for use by state agencies as a guide for planning and conducting evaluation of different aspects of the State Adult Education Program. The evaluation framework is presented using a set of design tables that offer different approaches states can use to address the Adult Education Act's…

The five school systems of Louisiana Educational Planning Region V formed a consortium to establish a vocational assessment center for high school special needs students. Assessment data would be used by the Individual Education Plan committee to place students in vocational education courses. A study was conducted to rate the performance of…

This paper examines how to increase the national vocational education and training (VET) research effort in Australia and the mechanisms to increase the knowledge about and use of research results. Section 1, "Introduction," addresses the rapid change in VET and importance of a national VET research effort. Section 2, "Increasing…

A study examined the information collected by the Department of Defense on both the quality of its new recruits and the effectiveness of its training in preparing recruits to operate in a technologically sophisticated environment. It found that data were collected at a recruit's entrance to military life, during and upon completion of formal…

This paper discusses program evaluation as a condition for the receipt of federal funds under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It focuses on some actual and potential linkages between effectiveness or outcome evaluation, implementation evaluation, compliance monitoring, and the concepts of program improvement and…

College outcomes assessment data and data collection plans for the future are presented in this report on Pueblo Community College's (PCC's) progress in implementing its 1991 Revised Accountability Plan. Following introductory sections, information is presented on changes made as the result of assessment efforts, activities to disseminate…

State activities to collect information on program outcomes for students enrolled in postsecondary vocational education were examined in spring 1990. A multistage process, beginning with a review of state reports and legislation, was followed by telephone interviews with state officials. The average number of respondents per state was five.…

This report presents the detailed results of the compilation of an overview of state activities related to measuring the outcomes of postsecondary vocational education. Chapter I provides background to the study. Chapter II describes the methodology used for the development of the overview, including discussions with experts, the information…

This document provides the procedures and instruments through which vocational education program personnel may evaluate or reevaluate the value and effectiveness of their program. It was prepared to help secondary vocational educators prepare for self-evaluation of their programs and site visits by educational personnel as part of a statewide…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on cost analysis, evaluation, and feedback in human resource development. "Training Evaluation with 360-Degree Feedback" (Froukje A. Jellema) reports on a quasi-experimental study that examined the effectiveness of 360-degree feedback in evaluating the training received by nurses in a…