This booklet provides questions and answers that point to the increasing interest that states have in developing, shaping, and evaluating the success of schools. The booklet highlights the analysis and recommendations of representatives of 10 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New…

This book describes how schools can develop and utilize portfolios as frameworks for evaluating school reform. The portfolio is a nonthreatening self-assessment tool that exhibits a school's goals, progress, achievement, and vision for improvement. Chapter 1 examines the school portfolio as an effective and positive, ongoing monitoring system that…

Information literacy, or the ability to seek and effectively utilize information resources, has become a critical tool in the Information Age. Community colleges, as gateways to higher education, have an important role in equipping students with this ability to access and utilize information. The increasing importance of information skills has…

This study focuses on the relationship between teacher mental planning and instructional design (ID) skills for the graduates of the teacher education program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW), which has had a two-semester sequence in instructional design (ID) and evaluation since 1976. The two courses are designed to…

An examination of the development of the technical and technological disciplines in Germany over the last 500 years shows that these disciplines have recognized key developmental stages. They have evolved from the practical-oriented approaches, through knowledge-, process-, and methodology-oriented approaches, to the strategy-oriented approach.…

Intended for use by both teachers and teacher-librarians, this guide for teaching library and information skills presents a five-step model for the research process: (1) planning the research project; (2) searching for relevant information; (3) selecting and evaluating the information found as it relates to the project; (4) presenting the results;…

This report is intended as a guide for local comprehensive integrated school-linked services sites and software vendors in developing and implementing case management information systems for the exchange and management of client data. The report is also intended to influence new development and future revisions of data systems, databases, and…

A discussion of second language program evaluation is intended for staff (teachers, program planners, materials writers, program managers) of programs being evaluated, to help them understand the process and dynamics of program evaluation. It addresses common concerns and fears about evaluation, offers ways in which staff can cooperate with…

Although San Diego City Schools is entering its fourth year of restructuring efforts, many schools are still reluctant to assume the autonomy offered to them. If school restructuring is stalling, it is because district offices have not yet restructured, research on what is known about implementing changes has been ignored, and no clear methodology…

This report summarizes the formation of UNISIST and the topics of discussion at the first UNISIST meeting (1976) on the planning and implementation of national information activities in science and technology. Topics of discussion reported include: (1) the objectives of national information activities in the areas of science and technology; (2)…

Directors of Research and Evaluation in school districts were surveyed about their methods in making school enrollment projections. The questionnaire covered school district size, minority enrollment, staff responsibility for performing projections, acceptable levels of accuracy, methodology used, special considerations, and use of the data. Fifty…

In this policy briefing, the technological developments of recent years are linked to the erosion of individuals' informational privacy under the press of bureaucratic efficiency and the ever-growing needs of executive agencies for more information. It is noted that privacy protection within federal agencies may entail costs, and therefore, may be…

The development and implementation of a 6-month pilot electronic problem-solving network for principals is described. Twenty-four school leaders in Ontario and the Northwest Territories made up the membership of the network. Included in this report is information on user recruitment, operating procedures, technical arrangements, user perceptions…

The role of the professional evaluator within a school district is essentially to provide data for use in informed decision making. In School District 4J in Eugene, Oregon, this role involves performing tasks in three basic categories: (1) maintaining and interpreting ongoing databases, (2) finding and analyzing information to answer specific…

Computer-based support services needed by individual planners/managers in small academic units (deans' and department heads' offices) within a larger higher education environment should provide the capability to interact easily and inexpensively with powerful information systems which allow the planner to integrate data from several sources, test…