Intended for use with the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, this integrated ongoing student assessment toolkit, in Spanish, is designed for preschool teachers to help them focus on all aspects of a child's development, thereby giving them a way to ensure that all children in their classes are making progress. The assessment kit uses a…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that investigated the consistencies and the differences revealed among teachers and school counselors when using the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) to rate the strengths of children at three separate school levels: elementary, middle, and high school. The sample included 60 children (ages…

This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation framework for a variety of organizations that wish to find the perfect fit between the needs of the organization and the online solutions they adopt. The framework described in this paper is an outcome of a collaborative effort between the department of Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation…

Research shows that teacher quality affects student achievement more greatly than any other school-based variable. The No Child Left Behind Act requires a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom by the 2005-2006 school year and achievement gains by all students over time. These realities give policymakers a strong incentive to focus on…

This study presents a process used to assess the general education component of the undergraduate curriculum, focusing particularly on the components of the methodology that provided the data used to suggesting changes in the program. The study was undertaken at an urban institution with an undergraduate population of 6,000, and involved analysis…

Educational researchers have employed various self-efficacy instruments in a wide spectrum of disciplines and academic settings. However, self-efficacy measures specific to the online environment have not been developed yet. This paper provides a brief history of the online environment and discusses the development and validation of an instrument…

This paper describes how one engineering faculty member redesigned his first-year course in response to feedback from students wanting to have more personable and inviting relationships with their lecturer. Now, two years after these changes were made, student feedback collected through a modified version of the Invitational Teaching Survey (ITS)…

This book provides guidance on developing an effective evaluation plan for adult English language programs, whether in the context of family literacy, workplace and workforce literacy, or general language development. With an emphasis on surveys, interviews, observation measures, and performance samples, the authors show how staff members and…

This packet contains four papers from a symposium on evaluation in human resource development (HRD). The first paper, "Context and Causation in the Evaluation of Training: Relating Economic and Learning Transfer Theory" (Kevin Hannigan, Paul Donovan, Elwood F. Holton III, Reid A. Bates, Sharon S. Naquin), links the following three…

This study examined the use of employer satisfaction surveys in the field of teacher education at a state university. Specifically, the issues addressed were whether new graduates' ratings of their job performance could substitute for direct employer satisfaction ratings, and if ratings of individuals by their supervisors yielded similar results…

This report discusses the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that require states to develop alternate assessments for students with disabilities who cannot participate in large-scale assessment programs. The report also profiles five state alternate assessment practices that have been developed or are emerging and…

The purpose of this paper is to promote and improve needs assessment in distance education through the exploration of eight questions: (1) what is a needs assessment?; (2) how are needs assessments related to successful distance education?; (3) where have needs assessments been used in distance education?; (4) which approach to needs assessment…

Field trials were conducted to test rating methods and the impact of feedback about consequences for the 1998 achievement levels-setting (ALS) process for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The field trials provided the opportunity to try out different methods similar to those used successfully by others, as well as to try out…

This self-paced, individualized manual provides guidance in evaluating the quality of adult education programs. The manual contains state-adopted indicators of program quality for Florida. Each of the indicators requires from 1 to 1-1/2 hours of review; a sample checklist or evaluation sheet is provided at the end of each indicator to allow for…

This book examines current assessment practices in higher education and offers suggestions on planning assessment programs, carrying them out, and using the results to improve academic programs. Examples from all types of institutions (community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and comprehensive, doctoral and research institutions) are used to…