Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle wrote of four distinct causes at play in the world we know. Those causes, the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause, were meant to refer to ontological and, by extension, epistemological concerns, and were powerful enough to be seized upon and used in some form by those of very…

Over the past two decades, inner-city communities have witnessed double-digit joblessness among an increasing number of residents who are relegated to the status of the "permanent" unemployed or the permanent underclass. These residents cannot hope to be competitive in a changing and evolving labor market. Relying on public assistance, low-wage…

We ask the reader to consider a proposal for cooperative renewal in the evaluation of a course (OurU) offered in partnership between a university and community-based adult learning center. This proposal's aim is to enhance adult learners' ability to evaluate their learning experiences, with the goal of adopting more learner-directed content into…

Developing educational programs for older adults who are highly educated and healthy is necessary in order to meet the learning needs for this specific group. One response to this demand for educational programs is the Learning in Retirement Organization (LIR). LIR began in New York City in 1962 as an educational program for retired professionals.…

This article describes an initiative to train lay people, predominantly parents of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), to teach "Bridge to Independence"--a care coordination curriculum--to other family caregivers of CYSHCN. Using a model based on Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick's levels of evaluation, the goal…

Explains why philosophy should undergird development and marketing of educational programs, employment and supervision of teaching staff, and program evaluation and accountability. (SK)

Anticipating and supporting the needs of users of technologies, programs, and services are critical to the success of distance education programs. Principal stakeholders are instructors who teach at a distance, learners pursuing distance education courses, site facilitators, and administrators. (JOW)

Refutes three evaluation myths--(1) evaluation is findings; (2) outcomes are hard to measure; and (3) evaluation is an add-on--with three principles: (1) evaluation is a learning process; (2) soft data about important issues are better than hard data about unimportant issues; and (3) meaningful evaluation is integrated into teaching and learning.…

Defines and evaluates alternative or authentic assessment, explores some of the creative options that are available, and provides tips for implementing new evaluation strategies. (Author)

Offers step-by-step guidelines for creating effective team work in a workplace basic skills program, including preplanning, determining worker skills, developing curriculum, evaluating, and reporting the results. (JOW)

Minnesota Extension Service's framework of quality indicators for program management/evaluation includes (1) problem selection (important, focused, grounded); (2) commitment (timely, credible, capacity); (3) strategy implementation (results oriented, responsive, feasible, flexible, systematic); and (4) review (utility, evidence, follow-through).…

Discusses the complexity of the process needed to effect renewal and improvement in adult literacy and basic education. Suggests that various stakeholders hold their own sets of interests and that, to implement changes effectively, these groups need to negotiate and construct a conception of quality that all can accept. (JOW)

Points out that, to keep the work force up to date, business, industry, and labor groups are inviting adult basic educators to design and implement retraining programs at the worksite. Provides suggestion for designing custom-made basic skills instruction using work-related materials. (JOW)

The General Educational Development Tests can be used to place adult basic education students for study, to measure progress achieved, to enable students to qualify for postsecondary education, and to evaluate program effectiveness. (SK)

A task force was set up to develop a system of evaluating community-based, nonprofit organizations that were members of the Rockford, Illinois, United Way. The task force experimented with participatory evaluation, which resulted in an action plan for the groups. (JOW)