The question of whether economic development programs can be evaluated seems simple, but the answer is not simple because of the nature of evaluation. Determining a program's effectiveness requires the evaluator to distinguish changes due to the program from changes due to nonprogram factors. The evaluator must focus on outcomes caused by the…

This volume is intended as a guide to managers of U.S. Department of Education programs and their staffs to help them in their efforts to design reasonably valid, reliable, and useful outcome monitoring procedures. It provides recommendations for development of an outcome measurement process for individual educational programs. These suggestions…

Feedback has emerged in the literature as a means to facilitate both the learning proccess and teaching performance. The context of constructive, systematic feedback includes evaluation as an important element in the process of decision making for teaching. Teaching and learning function as a whole to achieve outcomes from which specific…

The ways in which assessment materials developed for the Speaking and Listening strand of the Australian English Profile have helped refine the continuum of skill growth are explored. In Australia, profiles map the progress of learning during compulsory schooling. Each profile is divided into strands representing critical areas of a learning…

The evaluation process provides valuable information so that practitioners may share and benchmark their efforts to improve and enhance the quality of the educational reform initiative called tech prep. Evaluation should be part of every phase of a tech prep initiative, from needs assessment to completion. A tech prep program is typically at one…

This book was designed to help citizens evaluate and improve their local schools. It contends that the solution to the potential end of America's progress is through positive school reform--the public management of schools. It presents a system of participative and results-oriented management that is implemented by boards, administrators, and…

In response to the legislative mandate and the increasing need for timely and high-quality data by policymakers at various levels, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has initiated a number of actions, programs, and surveys to improve the amount and quality of education information. To improve the relevance of data, the NCES has…

Recommendations for deriving and using student ratings of college teachers are presented. General recommendations for teacher evaluation include: (1) using multiple sources of data about a faculty member; (2) using student ratings as one aspect; and (3) determining the purpose of the ratings before they are collected. Ten specific recommendations…

This model evaluation program was developed to help marketing education teachers in Missouri to evaluate their courses and plan improvements. Following an explanation of the rationale and nature of the evaluation, the guide consists of six sections: (1) a marketing education course enrollment summary form and directions for completing the…

This user handbook includes four main sections: (1) components of the American College Testing (ACT) Program Assessment; (2) ACT Assessment Reports and Data Services; (3) using ACT student data; and (4) ACT assessment participation. The components described are the four tests of educational development, the High School Course/Grade Information…

Some observations are offered about alternative assessment devices, performance assessments in particular. The act of conducting alternative assessment does not automatically ensure good assessment. Users must become knowledgeable consumers of published alternative assessment tools and developers of local and classroom assessments. Performance and…

A system designed to assist training managers or evaluators in increasing the effectiveness of military training programs has been developed, tested, and refined. The Training Program Evaluation (TPE) system offers advantages over traditional approaches of assessing program effectiveness. TPE involves the direct observation of training and testing…

This paper outlines a method of identifying student perceptions throughout a distance learning course. Using a questionnaire based on standards from the Institute of Higher Education Policy (IHEP) as a guide, instructors and administrators can measure various aspects of the distance education experience and their importance to students. By…

This paper presents ideas for the development and utilization of a comprehensive evaluation plan for an accelerated school. It contains information about the purposes of a comprehensive evaluation, the evaluation design, and the kinds of data that might be gathered and used. The first section, "An Approach to Evaluation: Multiple Purposes and…

This study analyzes the ways in which school boards assess and utilize evaluation data and their attitudes toward testing. Interviews with 27 school board members from 10 districts indicate that board members tend to rely on informal working knowledge over formal information, and on district administrators' judgments. Findings suggest that simple…