Nine articles in this festschrift for Herbert Goldhor explore relatively new and innovative approaches to problem solving in libraries. The articles identify and discuss methods and techniques of applied and evaluative research, consider conceptual and practical issues related to problem solving in libraries, and recognize Goldhor's many…

Investigates differences in marking standard and reliability when experienced teachers carried out assessments of the performance on practical exercises. The results showed that there was no difference between the assessments from the groups containing 5 and 20 students. (Author/YP)

Examines teachers' evaluations by principals over a 10-year period to compare criteria used and determine whether movement toward research-based criteria exists. Finds evaluations to be neither professional nor bureaucratic, but rather serving ritualistic purposes of little help to teachers' professional improvement or to personnel decision…

Conjectures about the future use of controlled randomized experiments for planning and evaluating social programs suggest that they will frequently involve institutions and organizations rather than individuals and that their applications and the publicity surrounding them will increase as they are used in new and controversial ways. (SLD)

In spite of many inherent problems, impact evaluation should remain an integral part of program evaluation, both because impact evaluation brings its budget justification with it, and because its focus on causal hypotheses is an essential part of evaluation. Methodology based on the author's body of work is reviewed. (SLD)

Investigated the factor structure of a battery of tasks hypothesized to measure the constructs of the planning, attention, and simultaneous-successive (PASS) process model of human cognition. Results suggest that the original PASS model provides an improper factor solution. Recommends further refinement of the PASS theory or tests. (RJM)

Provides a review of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC). Presents a description of the test and analysis of its administration, scoring, and psychometric properties. Argues that the BASC is an improvement over other objective personality measures used by school psychologists. Discusses other aspects of the test. (RJM)

Explores the difficulty of evaluating school effectiveness, distinguishing between school effectiveness and school efficiency. Introduces seven evaluation models, and discusses the difficulty of integrating these models. Develops a dynamic model which reconceptualizes school effectiveness and combines characteristics of the integrated and…

Describes a study conducted at a large west coast state university, comparing holistic scores on developmental writing program final essays when the same essays were handwritten and computer typed. Reveals a bias against typed final essays, especially in essays which received high scores in the handwritten form. (DMM)

The article examines the concepts of power and control in research design and applies them to a review of the validity of three studies (EC 600 064-066) evaluating the effectiveness of using Irlen tinted lenses with reading-disabled persons. Internal validity, external validity, statistical conclusion validity, and construct validity are…

High school English teachers (N=48) in four schools in two districts in Florida and Wisconsin analyzed behavioral teacher evaluation systems used in Florida. Comparison of judgments of teachers who actually used particular systems with those who had not indicated the importance of considering the context and the evaluation system. (TJH)

This study developed performance assessments from hands-on instructional activities and examined their reliability and validity for obtaining individual achievement data. Ethnic group comparisons indicated that Anglos scored higher, on average, than Latinos on all achievement measures. The magnitude of differences varied by curricular experiences…

The value of a multimethod, quantitative and qualitative approach to evaluation in an applied setting is demonstrated through a case study of an evaluation of a classroom literacy intervention (Classroom Publishing) that had been implemented without regard to subsequent evaluation. The two types of techniques complemented each other to create…

Two approaches to student-based evaluations were examined for their potential application to distance education: a quantitative measure of interaction, and a qualitative, formative evaluation approach--Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID)--in which a facilitator gathers data about instruction from students. Assesses aspects of the…

Reports findings of a two-year study of undergraduates at a United Kingdom university concerning the development and implementation of a general-purpose computer-based assessment (CBA) system. Results of questionnaires, observations, interviews, and a comparative analysis of student scores in conventional examinations and computer-based…