This statewide study achieved the following objectives: (1) It developed a methodology for conducting a benefit-cost analysis of vocational education programs in Florida; (2) It examined, compared, and analyzed public and private costs and benefits of four Florida vocational programs, (3) It compared public and private benefits and costs for…

This paper presents the rationale, techniques, and structure used to develop and implement an evaluation-accountability program for a new regional Education Service Center in Texas. Needs assessment, a critical element in this model, consists of objectively identifying the educational needs of clients and establishing an initial list of…

The Quality Assurance Model for Process Evaluation has been developed by the Southwestern Cooperative Educational Laboratory. It provides educational administrators several alternative techniques for maximizing desired terminal behaviors. By working with project directors, the evaluator helps to assist the program's implementation, providing…

The three papers in this resource guide are oriented to the needs of Spanish-surnamed and Indian children. The first paper points out three concerns to be examined before selecting reading materials: (1) the population for whom selection is planned, (2) criteria emphasizing children's needs, and (3) apparent trends in reading instructional…

This paper discusses a technique for evaluating the comprehensiveness, feasibility and viability of project models. The developed technique is based on the assumption that a school staffing model is an organizational pattern demonstrating certain specific characteristics. A method for describing these characteristics has also been developed as a…

This report presents the results of two field-based experimental studies to determine the effects of questioning techniques on student achievement and attitudes. The first study was done to determine what student learning outcomes are affected by teachers' use of probing and redirection techniques in classroom discussions. Another purpose of the…

Designed to evaluate the use of microcomputer-based labware (MBL) in junior high school science, the Computer as Lab Partner Project examined classroom experience of using MBL; system features used and curriculum designed; classroom procedures, processes, and interactions; gains and benefits of MBL use; and potential difficulties in MBL…

Formative validation methods were used with over 90 mathematics teachers in Utah to design an assessment of the mathematical and mathematics teaching cognitive competencies of underprepared middle and secondary school mathematics teachers. A summative validation study using 47 subjects indicated that the test was valid and reliable. (Author/PK)

This document represents the first of two volumes presented in "Study of the Impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives Program" (Norman L. Webb and Iris R. Weiss). In an effort to evaluate the impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSIs) on student achievement and the lessons that could be learned from the National Science…

This report focuses on the efforts of two troubled high schools (Wallis Annenberg High School in Los Angeles and Dayton (OH) Early College Academy) to launch early college programs. These two schools are a new breed of institution that combines high school and college into a coherent educational program and helps to bridge the gap between…

Several years after the passage of NCLB, there are persistently low-performing schools in every state that face increasingly strong consequences for failing to improve student achievement sufficiently. In particular, schools that fail to make AYP for five consecutive years must engage in restructuring to improve student learning. Districts have…

Career counselors continually evaluate their work. Unfortunately, the evidence used to gauge success often is usually not considered valuative, is not documented, and cannot be used to back up claims of successful counseling. This digest outlines a new approach to evaluation. Since client-need determines counseling intervention, evaluation models…

Suggesting that informational kinds of reading and writing are crucial in every lesson, this book looks at how teachers can encourage children from the very beginning to think of themselves as young researchers using skills and strategies for clear purposes. It argues that the creative practitioner nurtures children's sense of wonder and curiosity…

A regional program of pre-university courses in northwestern England open to adults with no entry qualifications is discussed. It uses some distance learning techniques but is investigating expansion to technical education through distance learning. The complexities and potential costs of such a substantial directional change are examined. (MSE)

Investigated affective changes in elementary preservice teachers (N=30) during a formative period and related these changes to the development of specific classroom science teaching behaviors. (JN)