Intended as a resource for individuals wishing to evaluate smoking cessation programs, this handbook, one in a series of seven, provides a collection of measuring devices that can improve the quality of such evaluations. Chapter 1 introduces the handbook's contents and outlines evaluation related issues specific to smoking cessation programs.…

This guide to the development of effective documentation for users of computer software begins by identifying five types of documentation, i.e., training manuals, user guides, tutorials, on-screen help comments, and troubleshooting manuals. Six steps in the development process are then outlined and briefly described: (1) planning and preparation;…

The judging philosophy statements of most of the judges at the 1987 National Cross Examination Debate Association Tournament are contained in this booklet. A short form on each judge details how long they have been judging and how many rounds of debate on the topic of the tournament they had previously judged. A longer form asks for information…

Designed to aid teachers, school administrators, and parents in selecting excellent education software for grades K-12, this guide reports the results of over 7,800 evaluations of educational software programs and lists the 250 selected as the newest education software winners. In addition to these programs, this 1986 edition has added software…

Shortcomings of the "Seriously Emotionally Disturbed" (S.E.D.) criteria set forth in Public Law 94-142 are discussed and the possibility of integrating other classification methods, specifically those in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM III), is raised and critiqued. Findings of a study…

Information on the existence of written exit criteria was obtained from 178 surveys completed by personnel of early childhood education programs for handicapped children across the United States. Descriptions of criteria being used to make decisions about a child leaving a program also were provided. Results indicated that approximately half of…

A study investigated the effect of the hiring process as a quality control measure in relation to the academic aptitude of classroom teachers. American College Test (ACT) scores of teachers in Kansas were analyzed to determine if employment of teachers took into consideration ACT scores. There was no significant difference in ACT scores of…

This document is a report on the implementation of changes to methods formerly used by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to evaluate claims relating to mental impairment for disability benefits. The introductory letter states several conclusions reached by the General Accounting Office's (GAO) review of the criteria used by the SSA to…

This document consists of 80 microcomputer software package evaluations prepared by the MicroSIFT (Microcomputer Software and Information for Teachers) Clearinghouse at the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory. Set 15 consists of 27 packages; set 16 consists of 53 packages. Each software review lists producer, time and place of evaluation,…

Interview practices of Physicians Assistant (PA) educational programs were compared in a national study of 43 such programs, using a four-page, 16-item mailed survey. Of these, 41 conducted interviews, but the number of interviews required and the interview formats used varied greatly. Thirty-seven programs who interviewed met with candidates one…

This paper summarizes the results of a quantitative review of the validity of the employment interview. It begins by discussing factors that make the interpretation of interview validity data difficult. The interpretation of interview validity data is shown to be hampered by the heterogeneity of constructs and measurement methods in the interview.…

A project was conducted at La Montana Regional College, a two-year institution in the central mountain region of Puerto Rico, to design a system by which solid, empirical evidence of institutional goal achievement could be collected. The project involved four components: a study of the literature on institutional goal achievement and the…

The role and methods of an evaluator of program effectiveness are discussed. Responses to questions prepared by academicians were obtained from three evaluation practitioners; an external, independent evaluator; and an internal evaluator with program implementation responsibilities. Practitioners uniformly indicated that internal evaluators were…

For an evaluation design or "political strategy" to succeed in instituting a process of valuing and be appropriate for a particular setting, patterns of social relations and beliefs about the evaluation must be in agreement with those of the chosen evaluation design. This agreement must be in place either at the onset or occur during the…

This guide describes the various hardware and software components needed for computer-to-computer communications in nontechnical language and provides guidelines for selecting an appropriate communications package for a microcomputer. Hardware components discussed include both internal and external modems and the advantages and disadvantages of…