Federal legislation requires mental health centers to establish quality assurance programs which seek to maintain or improve the quality of a center's health care services. Three general measures of quality are: (1) input standards for staff and the setting providing care; (2) process standards for the quality of treatment; and (3) outcome…

In an era in which the credibility of public schools is falling with the general public, community forensics performances by students have the potential for cultivating public awareness of the effectiveness of the schools. Forensics is intrinsically related to basic speaking and listening skills, and since there is great potential for…

This handbook aims to help parents become more familiar with the testing that goes on in their community schools. The first two chapters provide general background on testing, giving the reason and scope of educational testing today, and highlighting the fundamentals of the testing-measurement process. Chapters 3 and 4 consider the various…

Counselors and psychotherapists have a moral obligation and some practical reasons to make demonstrable the effects of their treatments. The followup study is a commonly used method whose use is nevertheless unsystematized. This paper describes a followup study in which the author contacted by telephone and interviewed 11 former clients. He…

This packet identifies and explains the questionnaires and coding used in DeVault VIII, a subsystem of the Texas Student Information System designed to generate data for local utilization and for fulfillment of the federally-mandated Vocational Education Data System (VEDS) student and employer follow-up requirements. The report first explains the…

This pamphlet makes a case for performance evaluation of educational personnel as the primary method for improving schools. The case is developed through commentary, examples, and statements of educators familiar with performance evaluation. The paper examines current issues related to the evaluation of educational personnel such as the purpose of…

Twelve preconference papers and background articles that identify issues in consumer protection in postsecondary education are presented. The papers and articles include "Recruitment Practices of Postsecondary Schools" (Frank N. Albanese); "The Role of a State Agency in Consumer Protection" (Philip F. Ashler); "The Three R's of Postsecondary…

This report describes the national workshop program and participating states' follow-up activities which were a part of an administrators' national training program to improve vocational programs' cost effectiveness. It consists of an introduction and three additional chapters. Chapter 2 presents a summary of developmental strategies, nominal…

An essential part of the school review process is self evaluation, which is fundamental to individual and organizational health and growth. Self evaluation is "coming clean" with ourselves--looking critically at what we are trying to do, how we are doing it, and to what extent it is being done. Self evaluation is important both as an…

Designed as a supplement to "Responding: Ginn Interrelated Sequences in Literature," this evaluation guide offers the following: a discussion of general objectives for literature study, interpretative measures for use with the diagnostic test of specific skills, student attitude scales, a check list and evaluation procedure for observing…

Performance standards are useful tools when comparative evaluation or personal selection are not appropriate for decision making. The concept was developed in 1962 when Glaser introduced criterion referenced testing, to emphasize the importance of making test scores informative about learning processes rather than comparing them to other people's…

As part of a statewide (Massachusetts) evaluation in all areas of education, the reading assessment described in this report tested all 9- and 17-year-old students in 31 school districts in an effort to examine student performance statewide as well as in the individual educational regions and communities. The first four chapters of the report…

The 1973 statewide (Maryland) educational accountability plan, for which this report was compiled, called for the development and establishment of statewide and local goals in reading, writing, and mathematics; a comprehensive and uniform statewide testing program; procedures for collecting data on student, home, community, and school…

The primary loyalty of the chief executive officer is to the board of education, a group of lay people elected to represent the school's clients. Because accountability is to laymen rather than to senior professionals, chief executive officers must play a heavy role in educating them about education and in generating policy recommendations for…

Since over 200 million Federal dollars are disbursed annually for American Indian education under Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I, Indian Education Act Title IV, and Johnson O'Malley programs, it is difficult to understand the dismal state of Indian education. However, factors contributing to abuse of…