Chapter 14 in a book on school law concerns the legal aspects of evaluating teacher performance. Careful analysis of recent decisions makes it clear the courts will compel uniform standards and unprecedented rigor in teacher evaluation practices. Particularly in the consideration of equitable standards, state and federal courts are relying on…

This paper presents survey results of the attitudes and practices of elementary school board members in Ontario, Canada in relation to early identification of children's learning abilities and related intervention. A short questionnaire, intended to provide a global picture of early identification work being carried out was sent to all elementary…

To improve Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) participant assessment systems in Virginia, a project identified assessment systems and techniques/tools used by prime sponsors and developed an assessment model. It also identified key personnel of educational institutions in the prime sponsor area. A mail survey was followed by on-site…

A series of helpful tips for planning and teaching an adult course is contained in this guide. Section 1 studies the creation of a climate for learning. It includes such elements as the uniqueness of teaching adults, the characteristics of successful adult instructors, the importance of the first class meeting, getting to know the students, and…

In addition to reporting on the technology of needs assessment and evaluation, these guidelines examine the context in which certain technologies should be employed, the opportunities/limitations of different methodologies, and the rationale for assessing needs and evaluating. The guidelines, intended for personnel at various levels and different…

Seven Wisconsin school districts formed a consortium to improve district level implementation of career education, K-12. Each district developed assessment and/or evaluation instruments to meet their specific needs, and circulated these instruments among all seven districts for review and feedback. After revision and field testing, these…

A bibliography and a review of the literature on the evaluation of competency based teacher education programs are presented. The literature review highlights over 150 references which would be helpful to program evaluators with little formal training in evaluation, and covers several aspects of educational evaluation. The general theory of…

Self-regulation by autonomous occupationally-dominated boards creates an inherent conflict of interest. Consumers are wondering whether what they get by way of protection is worth the economic and social costs. Perhaps the weakest links in the regulatory chain are enforcement and discipline. Few practitioners are suspended or have their licenses…

This monograph derives from a conference sponsored by the Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences. The goals of the conference were (1) to establish channels of communication between health care evaluators from different disciplines and from different countries in the Americas, and (2) to promote an exchange of…

Methods of assessing professional competence involve both licensing procedures, as well as assessment based on satisfactory performance of tasks associated with a professional's duties. Relicensing and/or mandated continuing education courses should not be used to ascertain professional competence in place of a demonstration of acquired skills…

This general summary of the results of a library study conducted in Hawaii presents the major findings from the survey of residents, the library staff survey, the government agency survey, and the measurements conducted in five Hawaii libraries. Major recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of library performance are…

One of seven career education programs chosen for nationwide dissemination by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's Joint Dissemination Review Panel (JDRP), a Project Equality is being conducted for grades K-6 in Seattle, Washington. For the years 1973-78, it received both federal and state funding. Intended to reduce sex-role…

Conventional approaches to program evaluation have followed the experimental and psychometric traditions dominant in educational research. Their aim (unfulfilled) of achieving fully objective methods had led to studies that are artificial and restricted in scope. Illuminative evaluation is introduced as a total re-appraisal of the rationale and…

An experiment was performed to evaluate the tenability of the assumption in the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I proposed variance estimation procedures for criterion referenced tests. The assumption is that the ratio of the local to the national standard deviation for the national sample will be the same for the normed test as…

Designed to serve as an introductory manual to mastery testing in science, this guide provides basic information about a variety of related topics such as mastery learning, criterion-referenced and norm-referenced testing, how to develop a mastery test, when and how to use a mastery test, limitations of mastery tests, and a list of mastery tests…