Present practice of continually seeking new assessment devices to replace older ones may not be as fruitful an approach to improving evaluation as careful attention to the way present information is handled. Improving methods of feedback could offer significant overall gains in the evaluation process in higher education. (Author/WM)

The paper examines the need for improvement in accountability and evaluation in rehabilitation programs for handicapped persons, with an emphasis on formative, or internal evaluation. Three factors significantly related to program management and accountability are explored: a client's need status, staff functions and attitudes, and outcome…

An attempt is made to define planning and evaluation in higher education in non-technical language and to describe their functions and purposes. A brief description of the interrelated nature of planning and evaluation is followed by definitions of strategic planning, tactical planning, and implementation planning. The concept of planning is then…

A discussion of how to examine curriculum and determine whether it achieves what it portends, is properly sequenced, has neither holes nor overlaps, and can provide successful educational experiences for the learner. (Author/HB)

Results are reported of research to test whether a simulation game can be used to identify and to influence the leadership styles practiced by elementary school principals. The design assesses whether principals can become more skillful decisionmakers through heightened awareness of their leadership styles. The research and educational…

The Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE) developed a formative evaluation system for the National Diffusion Network (NDN). A national, federally funded organization, NDN disseminates innovative ideas to schools nationwide. A formative evaluation was designed as an ongoing low-cost series of activities to be carried out by NDN managers,…

Part of a forum on a Federal offices' search for a strategy to gain better evaluation utilization, this paper discusses the strategy's conception. Three categories of educational evaluations, defined by social and structural characteristics of the program environment, are identified: (1) trial evaluations, whose funding is not guaranteed beyond…

Limitations of linguistic theories of translation are outlined and an argument is presented for the inclusion of an evaluation component in a comprehensive theory of translation. The tasks which a linguistic theory of translation sets for itself are formulated since these provide an ad hoc set of criteria for testing the adequacy of the various…

The project described in this report was begun with the belief that elementary language instruction can be speeded up and made far more pleasant if initial emphasis is given to comprehension and if the requirement to use language productively, in speech or writing, is postponed until a fair comprehension ability has been achieved. It was also felt…

A study was conducted to investigate teacher effectiveness when formative evaluation procedures were implemented in their learning disabilities (LD) resource programs on a regular bases. Procedures included two measurement frequencies (daily or weekly) and two means of determining when to change a student's program (decision rules or teacher…

Prepared as part of the Unesco INTERCONCEPT pilot project, this study tests the relevance of a set of guidelines for the design of glossaries in the social sciences. The Library of Congress "Glossary of Library Networking" was chosen for this purpose. This paper discusses the analytic problem of glossary design in relation to its…

An applied model is presented for the utilization of formative evaluation in developing instructional materials. The model is introduced through a presentation of its conceptual rationale. A description is given of its methodology and instrumentation, and a demonstration presented of its development and utilization within the framework of a…

Once programs or projects have been planned (in terms of personnel, activities, and expected outcomes), it becomes most important to develop a method of collecting information relative to the implementation of the programs or projects. This process of determining if what is planned as a program or project is actually implemented is known as…

In order to move away from reliance on a single questionnaire in university course evaluation and move towards a more formative evaluation, a method was developed for helping a team of instructors specify and evaluate their course and program goals. The method involves small group workshops in which instructors are asked to describe their program…

To obtain from students information for formative evaluation of instruction, course-specific questionnaires were developed with individual faculty. Forms were introduced by a statement that the purpose of evaluation was to improve instruction. Although items varied with the course, all had potential action implications and all requested…