This chapter is limited to a discussion of formative evaluation procedures for the purpose of improving instructional programs. It provides some discussion about what formative evaluation is, what it is for, and some guidelines regarding how to go about the evaluation of instruction. The use of the term "instruction" is construed very broadly to…

This article summarizes the systematic process of instructional development by breaking down the three major stages of instructional analysis, design, and formative evaluation into the steps of needs analysis, learner analysis, task analysis, concept analysis, specification of instructional requirements, and the statement of instructional…

Each quarterly issue of this journal, available free to professional educators, discusses topics in educational evaluation by presenting articles on evaluation theory, procedures, methodologies, or practices. The topic of the six articles in this newsletter is an examination of free evaluation (GFE). Michael Scriven discusses the role of goal free…

An evaluation design created to provide information for a multiple-project program of educational experimentation is presented. Project SEED (State Experimentation in Educational Development) became an official education effort in North Carolina on July 1, 1971. Model for the program was that of the State's ESEA Title III program with certain…

The followup study reported here is a supplement to the process evaluation of the 1971-72 multiunit school organization/individually guided education (MUSE/IGE) nationwide installation effort by the Wisconsin Research and Development Center. The major purpose of the followup study was to determine basic implementation status in a number of schools…

This paper focuses on the development and/or improvement of instruments that can be used to measure the competence of preservice teacher education students. A number of questions need to be considered before making decisions concerning the development and improvement of such instruments: (1) At what level of specificity are the competencies to be…

Current trends in teacher education are characterized by programs designed to emphasize approaches to learning which are competency based, field centered, and individualized. Presently few colleges and universitites have progressed very far in the development and implementation of these innovative teacher education programs. This study presents…

To evaluate a specific program means to compare it against a standard that specifies what the program should be like at a specific time. Standards may be constructed in three ways: surface standards force the definition into a model shaped by scientific procedure; deep standards include information on the inputs, processes, and outputs for each…

Competency testing is only one component of competency-based education (CBE); the others are: educational objectives, instructional process, remedial instruction, and program evaluation/reconceptualization. To implement only competency testing may result in disillusionment with the entire concept of CBE, which seeks to improve programs, not fail…

Describes the use of a self-instructional system in an animal structure and function course for meat inspection students at Lincoln College. The method was shown to be successful in promoting learning as measured by pre-test/post-test gain. The highest rated components for both enjoyment and effectiveness in the course were the self-paced feature…

High school students, teachers, and principals were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the availability and importance of different types of evaluative information. Overall, all three groups perceived that evaluative information was only occasionally available, which indicating that such information was important. (Author/MV)

The increasing sophistication of school health program evaluation procedures tends to parallel or reflect the development of the total school health program. (JD)

Discusses the advantages of using a pretest in introductory agronomy courses. Provides a pretest that has been developed for use in an introductory crops course taught at Southern Illinois University. Includes 25 definitions, 17 true-false and multiple choice questions, and 6 short answer questions. (TW)

Teacher educators of the Instructional Leadership Program at the University of Vermont used interactive evaluation procedures (including numerical, process, and summative approaches) to inform their decisions about program improvement through a new training option for regular and special education leaders. (CB)

Describes evolving trends in testing, including such topics as formative versus summative evaluations; the use of tests as a guide to instructional decision making; the need to focus on higher level cognitive skills; and the role of computers in testing. An annotated bibliography lists 10 relevant journal articles. (CLB)