This booklet for trustees of institutions of higher education offers guidelines concerning the distinction between policy making and administration and the relationship of policy making to administration. It stresses the importance of keeping policy making and administration separate and of communication and consultation between the chief…

The current accountability movement in education is examined in terms of its historical antecedents and federal versus state initiatives and requirements. The assumptions underlying the educational accountability movement are then considered, and refinements and extensions to these assumptions are proposed. The accountability movement in American…

This paper describes: the development and implementation of Schoolwide Projects (SWPs) in the School District of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania); evaluation models permitted by Chapter 1 regulation and policy; ways these models were used in Philadelphia and results that were obtained; and approaches that are sensitive to the effects of SWPs. The…

Findings of a study that incorporated a method for measuring the economic efficiency of K-8 school districts in Illinois are presented in this paper. The quadriform concept was used to identify four categories, or quadrants, for identifying school districts--technically efficient, low service, high service, and technically inefficient. The method…

The California Art Education Association conducted a portfolio assessment pilot project to provide visual arts educators with examples of classroom practice to serve as a foundation for further development of performance/portfolio assessment. Key issues addressed during this project included the purposes of assessment portfolios for students and…

This study used multiple methods to assess basic community needs and attributes of community atmosphere (cohesion, religious involvement, and recreational activities) in two psychometric studies. Part 1 revised self-report community assessment measures, developed multi-item scales for each construct, and tested reliabilities and factor structures…

The beliefs and values of teachers and administrators in one school district regarding their desire and capacity to change and on helping school leaders plan the change process were evaluated, in light of the America 2000/Nebraska 2000 community school campaign. This report summarizes the evaluation focus, procedures for data collection and…

This document describes performance assessments (PAs) (alternative assessments or authentic assessments). PA requires students to perform a task rather than select an answer on a ready-made list. Some methods that have been used successfully to assess performance include open-ended or extended response exercises, extended tasks, and portfolios.…

Beginning with three anecdotes that illustrate problems with current assessment practices in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL)/literacy programs, this paper reports a study that involved feedback from both programs and their funders. Literature is cited to show the opposing positions of proponents of standardized tests and those who search for…

This study examined planning processes and the acquisition of expert problem solving skills among individuals of different expertise on tasks of increasing complexity. Twelve French-speaking adult students of machining (novices) and 12 French-speaking teachers of machining (experts) in Quebec (Canada) were randomly assigned to a simple or complex…

An alternative to multiple-choice (MC) testing is suggested as it pertains to the field of radiologic technology education. General principles for writing MC questions are given and contrasted with a new type of MC question, the alternate-choice (AC) question, in which the answer choices are embedded in the question in a short form that resembles…

This manual provides an overview and instructions for the application of vocational assessment to secondary special needs students, especially in Illinois. The manual is organized in six sections. The introductory section describes the provisions of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act in regard to student assessment and includes…

To fulfill a mandate of the Tennessee State Legislature, the extent to which the Tennessee Career Ladder System (CLS) is valid for making inferences about the professional competence of teachers was investigated. Evidence of the extent to which the content of the evaluation procedures reflects sound theory, empirical findings, and best practices,…

The 1994 U.S. History Framework encourages students to learn about ideas and people and to understand how the present world is the result of choices and convictions of people, and the focus of the assessment is to see what diverse U.S. students in grades 4, 8, and 12 understand about U.S. history. The framework proposes that students studying U.S.…

This guide describes a collaborative approach to high quality and relevant evaluation of a workplace basic skills program that can be carried out as part of normal program operations. It is designed for use by educators, union representatives, managers, supervisors, participating employees, and funders. The guide is organized into five phases. In…