This paper reviews recent literature pertaining to outcomes assessment, especially college senior surveys, and provides background information on several successful studies documenting the effectiveness of outcomes assessment. Books chosen for review are: (1) "Information on Student Outcomes: How To Get It and How To Use It" (Peter T. Ewell); (2)…

This document uses a question-and-answer format in clarifying the meaning and use of the term "informed clinical opinion," which appears in the regulatory requirements for the implementation of Part H of the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments 1986 (Public Law 99-457) as an integral part of an eligibility determination. The paper…

An important objective of the History Academy for Ohio Teachers was to shift the participating teachers' beliefs and orientation to history. Through the examination of the portfolios and interviews, the study looked at the changes from the participants' perspective. A subset of 12 teachers were selected from the Academy's participants and were…

The Northland Wilderness Experience (NWE) was established in 1985 to provide outdoor therapeutic programs for at-risk youth from the Northland region of New Zealand. The program involved a physically challenging 10-day expedition, followed by an 18-month followup period of group outdoor activities offered every 2 weeks. By the end of 1989, 280…

In September 1991 an invitational roundtable met to discuss issues in mass deacidification of books. The meeting was prompted by the significant increase in mass deacidification activities in recent years and libraries' interest in applying these processes. Contributions included: (1) "Opening Statement" (Duane Webster); (2) "The…

In June 1993, the Quebec Commission d'evaluation de l'enseignement collegial (CEEC) was created to conduct evaluations of the assessment of student achievement and quality of college programs and studies in the province. Having jurisdiction over the 117 colleges in the province, the CEEC is charged with evaluating institutional policies on student…

These guidelines are intended to assist Colorado school districts and boards of cooperative services (BOCS) in developing systems which meet the requirements of the Certificated Personnel Performance Evaluation Act (as amended), which mandates written systems for performance evaluation of all certificated personnel. The guidelines distinguish…

Louisiana is one of the few states to produce and distribute school report cards to public school parents statewide. The state undertook a formal evaluation, here reported, of the "1991-92 Report Cards." In Phase 1 a random sample of roughly 2,000 parents and 6,000 faculty statewide was surveyed by mail with a 30-item questionnaire…

This book addresses issues in higher education faculty assessment with emphasis on the role of assessment in fostering development of individual faculty members and their institutions. Part 1 describes the role of faculty assessment with the first chapter outlining inadequacies in current approaches. The second chapter offers a perspective on…

While the concept of the teaching portfolio is variously defined, portfolios generally provide the opportunity to display teaching abilities and accomplishments, as well as reflect on one's teaching. In using teaching portfolios, the departmental chairperson must create a climate in which faculty understand that putting together a portfolio will…

This book was written to disseminate measurably superior instructional strategies to those interested in advancing sound, field-tested educational practices. Part 1 contains chapters that give two views of the future of behavior analysis in education, while part 2 focuses on promoting applied behavior analysis. Part 3 addresses issues in early…

Authentic assessment, as referred to in this book, encompasses meaningful tasks, positive interaction between teachers and students, methods that emphasize higher-order thinking skills, and strategies that allow students to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning. Most important, authentic assessment means helping students to apply and…

Science assessment has been included with mathematics and language assessment on the international level since the 1970s. This paper discusses techniques of assessment that have been utilized to measure science process skills. The first section discusses the Assessment Performance Unit, a British project with the aim of developing innovative…

An approach to educational research that is receiving renewed attention is participatory action research (PAR), which emphasizes a bottom-up approach to research as well as useful outcomes. PAR is a philosophy, and not a methodology per se. It is a deliberate, goal-directed, structured, and applied means of obtaining information that looks to…

This paper presents a summary of best practices for communication assessment and intervention with individuals who are deaf/blind and have a severe intellectual impairment. Focus is on individuals who have difficulty both receiving and understanding auditory, visual, and tactual information. The impact of sensory losses on communicative…