Some uses of achievement tests to provide information for school administrators are described. Three systematic programs are described briefly: (1) a computer-based approach to management and planning designed to answer what is to be learned, how is it to be learned, and has it been learned; (2) a problem solving design for accountability that…

The process of implementing Goal Attainment Scaling at the Reno Veterans' Administration Center Mental Health Service, where it had never been employed and where most of the staff had never heard of the technique, is described. The difficulties of introducing a unique measurement instrument such as Goal Attainment Scaling into an existing system…

This paper presents a discussion of the value of compensatory education for preschool children from poor and uneducated families, focusing on knowledge gained from 12 years of experience with compensatory programs in the United States. The development of Project Head Start is described, and the role of behavioral science research in the…

Although a review of the literature on competency-based teacher education (CBTE) reveals little or no reference to microteaching's contribution, microteaching was a precursor of CBTE and had a direct influence in its acceptance and development. A review of CBTE's essential characteristics and a comparison with microteaching shows that…

Justifications for academic program review include a need for external accountability, administrative decision-making, and a definition of purpose. An overall coordinating group that will monitor the review, set policy, and bring together all of the diverse operations is needed. Guidelines and standards for the review procedure need to be…

An outcomes orientation is examined as the dominant focus for formulating improvements in a college's planning, management, and evaluation (PME) system. Outcomes are seen as individual (produced by college personnel or students), program related, or institutional. An outcomes orientation to PME has the advantages of relating to the quality of…

Coordination of roles of academic departments, evaluation units, and institutional planning units is advocated as an effective approach to evaluating educational program and student performance outcomes. A model to effect this coordination is described in terms of purposes, characteristics, and structure. In the process model, four guideposts,…

Federal legislation requires mental health centers to establish quality assurance programs which seek to maintain or improve the quality of a center's health care services. Three general measures of quality are: (1) input standards for staff and the setting providing care; (2) process standards for the quality of treatment; and (3) outcome…

In an era in which the credibility of public schools is falling with the general public, community forensics performances by students have the potential for cultivating public awareness of the effectiveness of the schools. Forensics is intrinsically related to basic speaking and listening skills, and since there is great potential for…

This handbook aims to help parents become more familiar with the testing that goes on in their community schools. The first two chapters provide general background on testing, giving the reason and scope of educational testing today, and highlighting the fundamentals of the testing-measurement process. Chapters 3 and 4 consider the various…

Counselors and psychotherapists have a moral obligation and some practical reasons to make demonstrable the effects of their treatments. The followup study is a commonly used method whose use is nevertheless unsystematized. This paper describes a followup study in which the author contacted by telephone and interviewed 11 former clients. He…

This packet identifies and explains the questionnaires and coding used in DeVault VIII, a subsystem of the Texas Student Information System designed to generate data for local utilization and for fulfillment of the federally-mandated Vocational Education Data System (VEDS) student and employer follow-up requirements. The report first explains the…

This pamphlet makes a case for performance evaluation of educational personnel as the primary method for improving schools. The case is developed through commentary, examples, and statements of educators familiar with performance evaluation. The paper examines current issues related to the evaluation of educational personnel such as the purpose of…

Twelve preconference papers and background articles that identify issues in consumer protection in postsecondary education are presented. The papers and articles include "Recruitment Practices of Postsecondary Schools" (Frank N. Albanese); "The Role of a State Agency in Consumer Protection" (Philip F. Ashler); "The Three R's of Postsecondary…

This report describes the national workshop program and participating states' follow-up activities which were a part of an administrators' national training program to improve vocational programs' cost effectiveness. It consists of an introduction and three additional chapters. Chapter 2 presents a summary of developmental strategies, nominal…