In a discussion on amplified objectives in language evaluation, this paper delineates various strands of contextual input that constitute the design of a language program. Philosophical, sociocultural, and psychological aspects are included. Amplified objectives are discussed in the context of domain-referenced language testing and program…

In today's climate of accountability, many grantmakers struggle to determine the impact of the activities they support. This report seeks to summarize and make available much of the information from a special member briefing Grantmakers for Education organized to help funders--especially those from foundations with modest budgets--confront this…

This research evaluates the social context of adolescent intervention programs through a critical lens to determine the impact on youth postsecondary decisions with respect to both educational attainment and deviant behavior, further examining the role of education from a social and political perspective. The Education Longitudinal Study 2002/06…

Management systems have been adapted for educational administration in response to the need for quality of educational opportunity, collective bargaining, school district consolidation, decreasing enrollments, accountability laws, limited financial resources, and participatory decision-making. Management systems adapted, not adopted, from business…

The nature of controversial programs is discussed, including problems that such programs pose for evaluators and suggested solutions for the problems. Controversial programs are likely to generate news-media attention, internal conflicts (i.e., involving the program and evaluation staffs) and external conflicts (i.e., involving various advocacy…

This two-part paper describes the working assumptions approach to early program evaluation and illustrates the approach with a study of a new social science curriculum in American ethnic pluralism for community colleges. Part I begins by providing a rationale for early program evaluation and describing the working assumptions approach as a model…

Context and input measures offer potential for vocational education program evaluation. Problems of measurement in context evaluation are primarily related to decisions on the appropriateness of data and how data should be interpreted. When program goals have been established, input evaluation is used to determine how available resources can be…

The Rutgers Train the Trainer Program (RTTP) is a 2-day intensive workshop for teaching noncareer prospective teachers. Seven essential principles of the program are as follows: (1) teachers of prospective teachers should model the elements of effective teaching; (2) teachers should adopt an overall approach to their students that centers on…

A study reviewed the progress of the 1978 Management by Objectives (MBO) and other management effectiveness programs initiated in Texas state agencies, 10 years after implementation. Questionnaires were distributed to a 25% random sample of executives, middle managers, and first level supervisors across the 11 largest state agencies. Over 1,700…

After 10 years' experience, the Salem County Vocational Technical Schools (New Jersey) have had positive results from developing objectives annually and clarifying long range goals. The Salem County Board of Education's philosophy is to operate the district as a business would, defining its function as human service and its product as the people…

A process for evaluating the effectiveness of educational organizations, with a focus on accountability, is described. An evaluation of 15 pilot-test school districts in the Arizona Career Ladder Project reveals the existence of a major discrepancy between meeting program requirements and achieving program success. A theoretical model of…

The paper focuses on development and implementation of the curriculum phase of an urban environmental studies program entitled Project Environmental Action Community Education (P.E.A.C.E.) The curriculum model developed for P.E.A.C.E. was based on the premises that it should be created by relevant consumer groups as well as educators,…

Evaluation results from the Improving Citizenship Education (ICE) Project are presented. The purpose of the ICE project was to design and test a model for improving the political/citizenship knowledge and attitudes of K-12 students by infusing citizenship education into an existing social studies curriculum. This evaluation examined the…

An instructional unit, "Coping in the World of Work: Practice in Problem Solving," designed to assist 11th and 12th grade high school students in developing the ability to solve vocational adjustment problems was developed and evaluated. Instructional goals of the unit included the following: (1) To become acquainted with the range of job…

The benefits based management (BBM) approach to outdoor recreation programming is a technique focused on outcomes and benefits derived from participating in outdoor recreation activities. This approach can be used to establish the significance of college outdoor programs on campus. The four premises of BBM are the articulation of outcome-oriented…