Designed specifically for higher education administrators, faculty, and student affairs professionals, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the principles, purposes, practices and uses of assessment, with particular emphasis on student learning and development. Nine chapters present and discuss a series of assessment steps: Chapter 1…

One of the most elusive statistics in education today is student mobility. Current mobility statistics are based on available rather than appropriate data, resulting in the best available mobility index, rather than one that would serve real information needs. This study documents methods currently being used by school districts and other entities…

This paper on postsecondary outcomes illustrates a technique to determine whether or not mainstream models are appropriate for predicting educational outcomes of American Indians (AIs) and Alaskan Native (ANs). It introduces a prominent statistical procedure to assess models with empirical data and shows how the results can have implications for…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the more effective decision rule set between the goal oriented and the treatment oriented approach within the context of alterable and unalterable elements of instruction. Students (n=343) identified as learning disabled by their schools from grades 1 through 6 in 35 schools in a large city school…

This report provides a synthesis of information currently available on the development of educational outcomes and a system of indicators for students with disabilities. An overview summarizes activities of the National Center on Educational Outcomes in the areas of model development, survey of state practice, information exchange, solutions to…

This paper examines the use of environmental scanning for institutions of higher education to achieve the following objectives: (1) provide early warning of changes that will have an impact on education; (2) define potential threats and opportunities to the institution or department; (3) promote a future orientation in faculty; and (4) alert…

A benefit of using the multifaceted Rasch model is the ability to factor out or control for confounding factors in the estimation of person ability and item difficulty. This study experiments with a variation of the multifaceted Rasch analysis in calibrating the effects of demographic characteristics that are intended to overcome the problem of…

The merits of the multilevel model for educational research and its uses for school effectiveness research are considered. The main goal of the paper is to establish what intelligent applications of multilevel models can do, helping researchers decide what they must do to make a rational choice between models. Multilevel models are random line…

The GENESYS (GENeric Evaluation SYStem) evaluation system of the Austin, Texas school system is described, and its second year of operation--1989-90--is reviewed. GENESYS is a method of streamlining data collection and evaluation through the use of computer technology. It gathers and reports the following standard information on specified groups…

Issues related to achieving adequate national norms are reviewed, and a new methodology is proposed that would work to provide a true measure of national achievement levels on an annual basis and would enable reporting results in current-year norms. Statistical methodology and technology could combine to create a national norming process that…

The first in a 10-volume report, this volume provides an overview of the NETWORK school improvement study as a whole, placing it within the context of federal dissemination-related school improvement policies and programs. Existing research on these programs is examined and synthesized, and the evolution of the federal role in dissemination is…

An examination is presented of the progress of Maryland's Joint Coordinating Committee for Occupational Education Programs in developing a systematic procedure for the evaluation of the quality of occupational programs in Maryland's community colleges. After presenting the 1976 resolution which established the joint committee, the fiscal year 1987…

This report discusses the methods, techniques, and software applications used in processing the data gathered in a survey of the physical condition and health of students in Guangdong Province, China. The introduction provides background on the survey. Survey grouping, data items, and survey procedures are then described. A discussion of…

This collection of seven reports provides information about Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) key program areas in the fiscal year 1985. The use of LSCA funds to provide library services is illustrated in each of the following reports: (1) "Meeting the Literacy Challenge" (Adrienne Chute); (2) "Library Services to the…

For this kit, 106 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) academic libraries were surveyed concerning: (1) current administration/organization; (2) evaluation; (3) patron relations; (4) services; and (5) the impact of online searching on collections. Responses were received from 83 libraries, many of which contributed sample materials. Analyses of…