This paper describes experiences with in-house evaluation, using four case examples from Child and Family Services (a social service, child welfare, and mental health agency) in a meta-evaluation model to illustrate benefits and sensitivities of the internal evaluator's role. Projects reviewed were: (1) a child sexual abuse treatment team; (2) a…

A product of a project initiated to develop and evaluate effective programs for gifted children in three school systems in Alberta, Canada, this guidebook is designed for use in evaluating both gifted programs and student growth. The first chapter presents a brief overview of the joint project. Chapter two addresses the problems caused by the…

The Council for Postsecondary Education conducted this study of initial teacher preparation programs in the State of Washington in order to provide a solid factual basis for assessing those programs and the wide variety of recommendations about them that have been made recently. While, on the whole, the Council's study has shown the state's…

In an effort to improve the quality of its educational systems, Florida mandated participation in a year-long Beginning Teacher Program (BTP) as a requisite for regular certification of beginning teachers. The support system of the program consists of regular formative and summative assessments of the teacher's performance, and the provision of…

This document is a checklist for use by science coordinators, school principals, science department chairpersons and teachers in identifying strengths and weaknesses of science programs in middle and high schools. It can also be used by science coordinators during school visits. This guide contains space for recording information concerning:…

Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) is a formative evaluation process used in the Seattle Community College District (SCCD) to help instructors assess their effectiveness and improve their performance in class. Instructors invite a SGID facilitator to meet with their classes in the middle of the term. In the instructor's absence, students…

This study compared the effectiveness of the use of computer-based training (CBT) and instructor-based training (IBT) to train teaching assistants how to use the word processing program Microsoft Word. Thirteen faculty, staff, and graduate student volunteers served as subjects and were randomly assigned to either the computer-based or…

The development of the Tennessee school system Commissioner's Report Card (CRC) and the School Report Card--later named the Tennessee School Improvement Project (TSIP)--is described. The report card project began in 1984 when statewide mandated achievement testing was introduced. The first CRC included limited results of such testing. The first…

The Early Prevention of School Failure Program (EPSF) was initiated in Peotone, Illinois, in 1971. The stated purpose was to prevent school failure through early identification and remediation of developmental learning deficiencies in four- to six-year-old children. The project components were team screening, team conference, education planning,…

A group of 27 library administrators and library computer systems experts met to share their experiences and insights with regard to online catalogs, to review survey results from The Council on Library Resources (CLR) 1982 Online Catalog Study, to review draft documents on the costs and features of online catalogs, and to discuss and recommend…

All educational evaluations share common problems, perplexities, and political considerations. Logistic problems include incomplete definition of purpose, unclear timelines and personnel allocations, inadequate support services, and the lack of a program plan. Interpersonal dynamics and conflicts plus unwieldy committee structures are perplexities…

This report on an experimental project in distance education via the ANIK-B satellite, which was undertaken by the University of Victoria in 1979-80, highlights in detail those aspects that could serve as components of a model for a similar effort, and incorporates the pertinent data obtained during a formal evaluation of the project. The report…

The emergence and purpose of formative evaluation as a tool for curriculum developers is described. It is pointed out that formative evaluation seeks to establish the merit of instructional materials during their development, to modify and improve the design of instructional materials, and to establish their worth so they may be adapted for use in…

The objectives of the SUMIT project was to develop, evaluate, and disseminate 20 course modules (microcomputer programs) for instruction in general biology and ecology. To encourage broad utilization, the programs were designed for the Apple II microcomputer and written in Applesoft Basic with a user-adaptable format. Each package focused on a key…

Five areas of concern about teacher evaluation are identified. They are: (1) intentions, i.e., what should be the intended role of the teacher evaluation system--summative for accountability purposes or formative for staff improvement?; (2) legal issues, i.e., how best can the legal rights of teachers and the public be assured within an evaluation…