This monograph on quality in early childhood programs contains two parts: an exploratory essay on the subject and an annotated bibliography selected from a search of the ERIC data base from 1985 through April 1993. The essay examines five perspectives on assessing the quality of early childhood programs. A top-down perspective on quality…

This digest explains why teacher comments on report cards are important, offers suggestions on how to construct effective comments, points out words or phrases to be cautious about using, and indicate sources of information for report card comments. Teacher comments are important in that they often convey information that is not completely…

Merit pay programs are based on the simple idea that educators should be paid what they are worth; yet these programs face a host of practical problems, mostly centering on the difficulties of developing and administering such systems. A review of research shows that money may not be the best way to motivate teachers, who are more influenced by…

Characteristics of effective teacher evaluations are reviewed, and some common teacher concerns are discussed. A teacher evaluation system should give teachers useful feedback on classroom needs, the opportunity to learn new teaching techniques, and counsel from principals and other teachers on how to make changes in their classrooms. Standards…

Intended to help English teachers make informed decisions about the use of computers in their classrooms, the chapters in this book consider: (1) "computer basics" (defining "hardware" and "software" and the various capabilities of both); (2) the various instructional strategies available via computers; (3) examples of software reflecting these…

This report addresses trends and issues in assessment in relation to the role of college faculty, including advances in assessment that make it more congenial to faculty, different institutional approaches to assessment, and how assessment can be viewed as a faculty role. The report identifies major shifts in the assessment framework, changes in…

This digest, based on a full report of the same title, provides an examination of the improvement of college teaching and argues for the central involvement of faculty themselves in collaborative peer review and looks at some central issues and challenges to implementation. Since summative evaluation involved in tenure and promotion decisions…

This review surveys major currents of thought and practice in teacher evaluation. Citing recent state-mandated teacher evaluation policies and procedures, several compelling questions of accuracy, fairness, and utility are raised. In response to these questions, the document first focuses on the distinction between formative and summative…

This annotated bibliography was prepared to provide background material for a synthesis paper, "Teacher Evaluation as a Strategy for Improving Instruction." Both formative (teacher improvement) and summative (personnel decisions) aspects of the topic are addressed by the materials collected. The 52 selected items, most of which were…

This brochure provides brief descriptions of 11 recent documents and journal articles selected from the ERIC database by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management (University of Oregon), all on the broad topic of teacher collegiality. The works reviewed are as follows: "A New Model for Professionalizing Teacher Evaluation," by…

Institutional vitality in higher education and measures of vitality are considered. Vitality may be viewed as the capacity of a college or university to incorporate organizational strategies that support the continuing investment of energy by faculty and staff both in their own careers and in the realization of the institution's mission.…

One of the main obstacles to effective faculty evaluation is the inability to reach consensus on the evaluation's intended purpose. On one hand, faculty evaluation has a formative purpose, supporting faculty development, growth, and self-improvement, while it also has a summative purpose in that it provides data to make personnel decisions on…

Based on presentations given at a 1989 conference, this booklet offers a literature-based perspective on systematic screening procedures and functional assessment procedures to facilitate services to students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The following topics are addressed: assessment decisions (in the areas of classification,…

This report argues for the central involvement of faculty themselves in collaborative peer review for the improvement of college teaching. An early section makes the case for formative evaluation to improve teaching and argues that collaborative peer review is well suited to the formative evaluation task. The next section examines faculty roles in…

Included in this summary analysis of three journal articles and two documents on teacher evaluation are reports that touch on difficulties facing school officials in developing a teacher evaluation system and suggestions for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of an evaluation system. The first article, by Susan S. Stodolsky, challenges…