During a seven year period science materials, designed to promote discovery learning for children aged five to thirteen, were developed and revised on the basis of a formative evaluation. Student and teacher data were analyzed in order to determine which curriculum materials contributed to cognitive and affective objectives. (BJG)

This paper describes a formative/summative process for educational program evaluation, which is appropriate for higher education programs and is based on M. Provus' Discrepancy Evaluation Model and the principles of instructional design. The Discrepancy Based Methodology for Educational Program Evaluation facilitates systematic and detailed…

The second of three volumes, this report consisted of a series of field-site investigations of performance appraisal systems in action to compare actual practices with results reported in the literature review published in volume 1. The field-site studies conducted at 10 professional service organizations in Ontario and 7 public school systems in…

To assess teachers' grading and other evaluation practices and policies in Ohio, a 79-item questionnaire was administered to 258 elementary and secondary school teachers, and 137 other teachers were interviewed by college students taking an educational assessment class. The typical teacher assigned term grades of "A" or "B" to…

Noting some of the major problems with current design experiments in education, a project has been undertaken with the long-term goal of constructing a systematic science of how to design educational environments so that new technologies can be introduced successfully. This paper outlines several factors considered to be critical in developing a…

This handbook was written to enable elementary school educators to conduct formative evaluations of their computer integrated instruction (CII) programs in minimum time. CII is defined as the use of computer software, such as word processing, database, and graphics programs, to help students solve problems or work more productively. The first…

A review of research on the feasibility of extending the school day/year is the purpose of this report. The first section discusses the outcomes of such proposals since April 1983 and concludes that they have failed to generate widespread acceptance. The second part assesses the validity of international comparisons used to justify such proposals.…

Since 1980 the Memphis City Schools Law-Related Education Curriculum Project (LRE) has identified and organized concepts in law content into curriculum guides suitable for elementary and secondary education teachers. Lesson plans include instructional activities and suggestions to teachers for infusing the law-related materials into the standard…

This book proposes treating teacher evaluation as a set of processes aimed primarily at helping teachers develop professionally. The book opens with a review of current practices and problems in evaluation, then outlines basic theoretical concepts and describes some operational models. The Developmental Teacher Evaluation Kit (DeTEK) is introduced…

This guide was developed to provide assistance and direction for members of local school communities as they plan to improve instructional programs for students. Supplemented by a resource handbook, the guide is designed for teachers, parents, administrators, and support staff members in schools receiving funding through the following programs:…

This paper dealt with the use of classroom observation data for formative evaluation purposes, and with a research project in which scores based on observed performance of teachers in secondary school algebra and English classes were compared with efficiency scores based on an input-output model. The model, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)…

An automated management information system was developed for planning and scheduling unit training in a U.S. Army infantry division. The primary goal of the project was to test the feasibility of the concept for a computer-based management information system. Specific objectives were to integrate information on personnel, training, and logistics…

This paper summarizes formative evaluation activities during the development of a pilot program by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications for a telecourse on introductory data analysis. These activities included: (1) two major design activities--selection of a statistician host teacher and script development; (2) production phase…

The research in progress that is presented in this paper focuses on the preliminary results of a study examining the differences and similarities in data obtained using the one-to-one versus small group procedures for designing and conducting formative evaluations of instructional materials. The materials chosen were the microbiology print module…

The emphasis on and the importance of evaluation have been addressed by program planners for the past 60 years. Evaluation strategies have broadened from the Tylerian approach, which focuses on specific objectives, to more investigation using indicators as measures of program success. Evaluation is important during the development of a program and…