The costs incurred by state education agencies (SEA's) for evaluation activities are looked at in this study, which also examines the possible role that the use of management consulting might play in reducing these costs. It is estimated that SEA evaluation activities in the U.S. today cost about $32 million and that the use of management…

A formative evaluation was conducted of the instructional television program "Daddy's Girl" from "On the Level," a series of 12 lessons designed to aid secondary school students in dealing with personal and social growth. Designed to teach that adolescents usually have to work out new relationships with their parents and that…

A formative evaluation was conducted of the instructional television program "What Next?" from the Career Aspirations unit of "On the Level," a series of 12 lessons designed to aid secondary school students in dealing with personal and social growth. A total of 127 students in 8 Chicago public school classes viewed the program.…

An experiment was designed to test an instrument that could assist writers and editors in selecting strategies for improving the comprehensibility of written instructions. In addition, the study examined how successful professional writers are in improving passages selected for difficulty. The subjects, 150 experienced writers, were given an…

The changes necessary for creating a quality school can best be made in a positive organizational climate because any real change requires the active involvement of people in the organization, who will not participate unless they are highly satisfied with their work environment. Such an open, facilitating, nurturing environment can only be…

The first section of this report recapitualizes the Texas Teacher Center Project in history. The broad goal of the project is to improve teacher education throughout the state of Texas but, for the purposes of this report, this long-range and generalized goal is categorized into four concrete objectives: (1) changing preservice education programs;…

This formative review of a project designed to help high school students become more discriminating television viewers (1) presents a description of the curriculum designed during the project to foster critical television viewing in teenagers, (2) outlines the major tasks involved in the formative review of the curriculum, and (3) presents and…

In a resolution, the Committee of Ministers recommended that governments of Council of Europe member states ask their countries' school authorities to use the school career and health record for children attending school abroad for a trial period and inform the Council of Europe Secretariat at the end of the trial period of their experience in…

The instructional development (ID) process is a teaching method that can be applied to an entire course, unit, or subject. The ID process can be compared to the decision making stages in purchasing and designing a house. These stages involve such concepts as communication theory, audience analysis, and study of goals and objectives. The choice of…

The reliability of four measures of written expression was examined (total words written, mature words, words spelled correctly, and letters in sequence). Subjects included elementary-age students in several school districts, some of whom were learning disabled. Results revealed high coefficients for test-retest reliability, parallel-form…

The horizontal evaluation model was developed to remedy three major problems associated with competency-based approaches to teacher evaluation: there is no consensus regarding what competencies are essential to good teaching; teachers' behaviors may or may not be related to competencies they possess; and competency-based evaluation typically fails…

Improving the quality of education is difficult today when many schools are experiencing a steady decline in student enrollment and financial resources. In such a climate it is increasingly important to stretch resources and adjust programs to provide for the diverse needs of all students. The National Association of Secondary School Principals…

This analysis of an affluent, well educated, family community and its library by a professional consulting organization used statistical and budget data, public meetings, and surveys of citizens, library users, and staff to determine the library needs of the community and to develop a plan for improved library services. Questionnaires were…

The Multilingual Project is a model of bilingual education that uses a student-centered approach specifically designed for the multilingual classrooms of Australia. The aim of this evaluative investigation was to demonstrate gains in learning that take place as a result of the use of multilingual units, and to identify the characteristics of…

This paper presents the results of an evaluation study of a sex equity program designed to affect the achievement and attitudes of early adolescent students in the middle school. The Self-Concept and Decision-Making Middle School Curriculum Program at Florida State University developed sex equity curricular materials titled "Decisions About…