During the last few years, a national quality assessment system for evaluation of the core activities of universities has been established in Sweden. Beyond participating in these national efforts, Lund University has also participated in the European benchmarking programme managed by ESMU (European Centre for Strategic Management of…

In this article, the author takes a critical look at current assessment practices in social studies education, especially those at the state level. He defines some key assessment terms, then considers the major issues of statewide assessment, focusing on the reliability and validity of the means by which government agencies across the United…

Large scale testing in English affects second-language students not only greatly but also differently than first-language learners. The research literature reports that confounding factors in such large-scale testing such as varying test formats may differentially affect the performance of students from diverse backgrounds. An investigation of…

A product of the United Kingdom's Primary Assessment, Curriculum and Experience (PACE) project, this report presents interview, observation, and survey findings concerning primary school teachers' attitudes toward and experiences of the Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs). In 1991, students were observed taking SATs at nine schools. Afterwards,…

Computer-assisted testing (CAT) in counseling and therapy is becoming increasingly common due to dramatic improvements in cost-effectiveness and increased counselor familiarity with computer applications. The assumption underlying the use of CAT is that the effectiveness of counseling is improved by allocating repetitive computational and…

Internship coordinators in mass media departments face problems both from within the unit where they are employed and externally from conditions at the internship site. Of the two, the most threatening from a career advancement standpoint are the internal problems. Students often plan poorly when considering internships. Some students demand an…

Noting that issues of assessing and evaluating learning and teaching have become a dominant concern in recent years, this book describes the journey of a group of classroom teachers, administrators, and researchers as they addressed the issues of evaluation and assessment. The book details the results of a collaborative project undertaken in…

This paper examines practical and theoretical problems and issues that arose during evaluation of an adventure program for young offenders. During 1989-93, the Sail Training Association and the Humberside (England) Probation Service collaborated on a project in which probation clients aged 17-25 made sailing voyages across the North Sea or around…

A study examined teachers' reactions to the conceptual framework developed and used in designing the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading. A total of 312 classroom teachers (of 1000 surveyed) responded to a questionnaire about the "Reading Framework," a document used in developing the 1992 NAEP. Subjects…

An ethnographic study investigated conversations during planning meetings and placement rating sessions for selecting and rating freshman composition placement exams. Planning meetings involved the administrative coordinator and two assistants selecting model essays, discussing the rubric, and confirming the final plans for the rating session.…

Culture has been found to be a confounding variable in the accurate assessment of affectively and cognitively disabled students, especially when the student is a member of a minority group. Because of differences, including differences in expectations, among members of minority and majority cultures, culturally laden behaviors may be interpreted…

This paper provides practical information to help experiential educators from varying backgrounds effectively use program evaluation. Program evaluation uses specific and systematic procedures that result in findings that are useful to decision makers for achieving program goals. The purpose of any program review process must be clear, including…

Proceedings of a workshop held at the University of Stirling, Scotland, to critically examine issues in quality assurance (QA) in education are provided in this document. QA is the generic title for a series of business-management models that have been applied to educational contexts to describe and promote school effectiveness. Five papers and…

Some aspects of fourth generation evaluation procedures that have been advocated by E. G. Guba and Y. S. Lincoln were examined empirically, with emphasis on areas where there have been discrepancies between theory and field-based experience. In fourth generation evaluation, the product of an evaluation is not a set of conclusions, recommendations,…

A study was conducted to determine criteria for use in evaluating Indiana local school districts' delivery of programs and services in vocational and technical education and steps for the use of these criteria. Data were gathered by a review of the literature from 1983-1989 and telephone interviews with state agency personnel, concentrating on…