Whether the aim has been to understand the nature of creativity or to determine its development, researchers have formulated a number of measures of creativity. A glut of results and conclusions actually hinders an educational understanding of the term creativity. The most widely known tests of creativity incorporate divergent-thinking, as opposed…

The District of Columbia public schools sought to obtain an index of "customer satisfaction" from its parents through a study designed to examine their perceptions of their children's schools and school experiences. A survey was developed and pilot tested to ensure content validity and reliability. The survey focused on five areas: (1)…

This fourth edition of "Education at a Glance" presents a set of 43 educational indicators covering the 1993-94 school year in the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These indicators provide regularly updated information on the organization and operation of education systems. Following…

High-stakes assessments are those in which the results of tests or other measures can lead to decisions that may affect school administrators, teachers, and students substantially. Whether high-stakes assessment results in misleading information due to extraneous factors associated with the conditions under which the assessment occurs is explored.…

This curricular framework is designed to assist administrators and teachers in planning, developing, and implementing family and consumer sciences programs in Maryland. It provides a philosophical foundation and a broad outline from which educators may construct comprehensive family and consumer sciences programs. The materials will aid local…

Adding new chapters on emergent literacy, special needs children, and technology in the reading/writing classroom, the second edition of this book emphasizes that teaching children how to read and write is not enough--teachers must create an environment that invites children to want to read and write for real, communicative purposes. Chapters in…

This curriculum on supported employment for individuals with disabilities is intended for case managers in Montana and focuses on programs and processes relevant to the case manager's typical roles of long-range planning, coordination, and facilitation. Part 1 discusses the move toward inclusion, including its value, the concept of normalization,…

The primary purpose for evaluating novice teachers is to improve their performance. The paper presents a model for assessing and assisting novice teachers to have a broad variety of professional learning experiences, to acquire a wide repertoire of teaching competencies and skills, and to gain familiarity with the language and norms governing both…

This book is the fourth in a series aiming to promote international exchange of ideas, experiences, and studies relating to technical and vocational education. The introduction reviews traditional practices in assessment and chapter 2 highlights the connections between assessment and learning, emphasizing that assessment is the most significant…

Meaningful Internet activities should take advantage of the distance, multiple resources, and speed that telecommunications can offer. They should also require K-12 students to synthesize, analyze, and evaluate the information, rather than simply collecting facts. This paper focuses on basic, advanced, and original research activities of the…

The institutional effectiveness movement has emerged on the higher education agenda because of increased global competition, decreased funding levels, and a loss of public confidence in higher education. While the movement's emphasis on outcomes-based accountability has been integrated into state mandates, accreditation processes, and educational…

The performance of national education systems is a growing concern in many Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. This book focuses on the assessment of school performance in seven countries: England, France, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. The research questions include: Why are schools…

This monograph provides definitions, guidelines, and recommended practices for assessing and improving institutions of higher education in South Carolina which are congruent with the accreditation standards and criteria of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The first section defines key terms and states that overall institutional…

This paper reports on the implementation of an Integrated Assessment and Strategic Planning (IASP) process to comply with accountability requirements at the community college of New Mexico State University at Alamogordo. The IASP model adapted an existing compliance matrix and applied it to the business college program in 1995 to assess and…

Many people in higher education are looking to networked resources and services when formulating strategies for addressing the pursuits of learning, teaching, research, and community service. Sometimes it may be difficult to determine if users are seeing the same things or the "right" things. This manual provides a set of tools for…