Efforts to assess quality of academic life at Vanderbilt University (Tennessee) resulted in a plan to merge qualitative and quantitative measures and uncovered political, logistical, and fiscal issues in collection and use of the two kinds of data. Although qualitative databases are costly, they are also very useful in different ways. (Author/MSE)

Described is a method of evaluating student chemistry laboratory reports using electronic reporting from locally developed macros. Examples of the input template, the grade report template, and input and grading programs are given. Results of a survey of students and teachers evaluating the program are reported. (MDH)

To identify general principles of implementing a system of evaluation, the experience of Malawi in building a national system for agriculture is described. Applying principles of both centralization and decentralization and principles of trial and error has helped translate theories of evaluation into practice in Malawi. (SLD)

The incremental contribution of an interview to the student admission process was studied for 331 applicants accepted as undergraduates at a private university. Interviews provide information about applicants and correlate to grade point average (GPA). Interviewer judgments do not contribute incremental variance to prediction of admissions…

Design and Technology activities, a required part of the British National Curriculum, are assessed by the students themselves with a framework of eight statements of attainment. The activities cover a range of skills, techniques, and processes involved in creating artifacts, systems, and environments. (SK)

Results of a survey of 47 state departments of public instruction regarding eligibility criteria for the identification of children with mental retardation are compared to results of 1981-82 and 1985-86 surveys. Although states continue to vary widely in definitions and procedures, more states now specify assessments of intelligence, adaptive…

Discusses methods of evaluation that can be used to measure public library effectiveness, based on a conference sponsored by the Council on Library Resources. Topics discussed include the Public Library Effectiveness Study (PLES), quantitative and qualitative evaluation, using evaluative information for resource acquisition and resource…

Adherence to the arbitrary 0.05 level of significance as a benchmark for decisions about publishing research largely accounts for the popularity of one-tailed hypothesis tests. Effect size estimates, accompanied by confidence intervals or exact two-tailed probabilities, are generally more compatible with the growing meta-analytic view of social…

An Australian survey found that early childhood teachers were very supportive of early identification of gifted and talented children, though many had only a fuzzy definition of giftedness and suggested teacher observation as the best identification technique. Teachers who had been involved in gifted education recommended more specific…

A Better Chance, Inc. (ABC) is a national academic talent search agency that identifies gifted minority children and provides them with college preparatory education. ABC uses multiple assessment techniques, including objective factors such as scores on the Secondary School Admission Test, and subjective factors, such as an independent mind and a…

Presents a model for evaluating performance-based instruction that is intended for use by human resource development/performance technology professionals. Highlights include goal setting; program design and implementation; evaluating the use and impact of training; instructional tasks, including sequencing; quality of student products; and…

Discusses budgets for library materials and how to select and evaluate book and serial vendors. Trends in automation, publishing, and economics that affect both libraries and vendors are discussed; and examples from the University of California at Berkeley that include serials service charges and approval plan discounts are presented. (six…

Provides short synopsis of biochemical education leading to a master of science degree at the University of Gulbarga, India. Discusses admissions policy, teaching methods, seminar availability, evaluation schemes, student input, current research areas and projects, and liaison with other institutions and industry. (JJK)

The interrater reliability for 33 pairs of evaluators of a group assessment procedure developed from assessment center techniques was supported in 3 studies in Israel (admission to a counseling program for 109 candidates, admission of 94 candidates to teacher training, and selection of 69 candidates for Army teaching posts). (SLD)

Study of New Zealand public library effectiveness duplicates research by Childers and Van House which examined the multiple constituencies model of organizational effectiveness. Librarians, users, and councillors rated performance indicators identified from the literature, and similarities and differences between the two studies are reported. A…