Examines student ratings of teacher effectiveness within a new framework that emphasizes six distinct aspects of validity: content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external, and consequential. Concludes that greater attention should be directed toward consequential validity, particularly how ratings are used on today's campuses and what…

Explores two issues that have strongly influenced much of what has happened in evaluation in recent decades. The quantitative-qualitative debate has been fueled by changes in theories of causation. The second issue, that of the fact-value dichotomy, can be dealt with through the realization that facts and values are not separate kinds of entities,…

Describes the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine's use of outcomes assessment (OA) as part of the accreditation review process for the American Veterinary Medical Association. Discusses its nine OA survey instruments and use of resulting data during accreditation. (EV)

Draws practical suggestions from "The Program Evaluation Standards" (Joint Committee, 1994) relevant to issues of disclosure of evaluation findings and arranges these suggestions to simplify the issues for evaluators. Suggestions should help evaluators decide when they can legitimately report findings beyond contractual agreements. (SLD)

Conceptualizes key differences between management and leadership as a basis for suggesting ways in which evaluators might operate to serve the decision-making needs of organizational leaders. Evaluators will provide maximum leverage if they work directly with the leadership to promote review and change. (SLD)

Presents the perspectives on commissioning and using evaluations of community-based agency leaders through interviews with four such leaders. Discusses respondents' needs and experiences in commissioning and using evaluations and their ideas about ideal evaluation products. (Author/SLD)

Discusses ways in which a community-based program evaluation can be enhanced by using a screening tool to delineate the program's evaluative needs, resources, and commitments. Describes use of the Evaluation Pre-Screening Tool and reports on some examples of successful use. (SLD)

Describes the efforts of one community to define, begin, and finally, embrace community evaluation in the evaluation of a Smart Start program in Cumberland, North Carolina. Lists lessons learned in "selling" the evaluation to the community. (SLD)

Draws on interviews with 61 officials in 13 federal agencies to illustrate a framework showing many of the potential uses of evaluation in support of performance management. Suggests 10 actions as opportunities for agency administrators and evaluators to bridge the current gaps between potential and actual uses of evaluation. (Author/SLD)

Studied the nature of barriers to the implementation of external program evaluation through interviews with 18 staff members of a university outreach program. Findings reinforce the importance of a trusting relationship to avoid barriers to evaluation implementation. (SLD)

The most recent attempt by educators to emulate the "sound principles" and methods of business and science is to become data-driven. The leaders in a data-driven school are able to demonstrate how some number, preferably scores on standardized tests, has moved upward as a result of some program they have initiated. Data-driven schools also possess…

This pragmatic, accessible book presents an empirically supported conceptual framework and hands-on instructions for conducting curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in grades K-8. The authors provide everything needed to evaluate student learning in reading, spelling, writing, and math; graph the resulting data; and use this information to make…

This study explores the research question: Does the promotion system in Taiwan reward faculty research productivity? By conducting event history analyses, I have demonstrated that the simple answer to the question is "yes." After controlling for the effects of demography, education, institutions and seniority, the discrete-time logit…

This paper summarizes views on the costs of evaluation developed as part of CSE's Evaluation Productivity Project. In particular, it focuses on ideas about the kinds of costs associated with factors known to effect evaluation utilization. The first section deals with general issues involved in identifying and valuing cost components, particularly…

While there is a recognized need for new and better ways to train soldiers to fight, many training programs developed in response to this need are used poorly or not at all. In part, the failure to use these training programs stems from the lack of established procedures for monitoring implementation and evaluating use. Effective monitoring can…