Although methodological integrity is not the sole determinant of the value of a program evaluation, decision-makers do have a right, at a minimum, to be able to expect competent work from evaluators. This paper explores five areas where evaluators might improve methodological practices. First, evaluation reports should reflect the limited…

The report describes activities and findings of an 18-month project which surveyed day and other non-residential services provided to persons with mental retardation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. An introductory section describes project purposes, followed by a description of project methods (sampling plan, questionnaire development,…

This guide is intended for use in conducting a review of adult and community educational programs. The procedures explained in the manual are geared toward conducting a program evaluation that is intended to (1) serve as an educational tool that program practitioners can use in gaining a better understanding of the ways in which their program…

A project was undertaken to explore the prospects of conducting employer followup surveys concerning the graduates of a selected vocational program and to devise a procedure that would categorize the small number of employers to be sampled in such a way that useful data for possible program change could be obtained and analyzed. During the…

Seven potentially useful maxims from the field of human information processing are proposed that may help institutional researchers prepare and present information for higher education decision-makers. The maxims, which are based on research and theory about how people cognitively process information, are as follows: (1) more may not be better;…

The report analyzed the average proportions of women on 2,134 state boards and commissions in ten areas of state government. Data were collected in 1975 at the request of the Women in Power Committee of the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. The ten functional areas of government were business regulation, economic…

The hearings presented in this volume are composed of testimony about general trends that have implications for the future of all federal programs affecting elementary and secondary education. One of the focuses of the hearings is on demographic trends that have an impact on elementary and secondary education, particularly the question of…

This manual contains information for conducting regular student surveys at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Questionnaires, designed for new, returning, and former student populations, are presented together with the methods by which the instruments should be administered. Guidelines for data analysis and report writing are also outlined. The…

This paper defines a conceptual model for institutional research in the community college and identifies sources of information, programs, and services that provide data necessary for implementation of the model. The model contains four specific subsystems: goal setting, program development, program review, and cost effectiveness. Each subsystem…

Summaries of results are presented for student achievement on art exercises from a national art assessment program conducted during 1974-75. Two technical reports document the results of the national assessment. Exercise-by-exercise results are reported in the "Art Technical Report: Exercise Volume" (see TM 006 981). This report, a companion to…

One of seven guides developed to assist vocational-technical institutions in conducting a systemized approach to local evaluation, this administrative perceptions guide presents a suggested methodology for conducting a needs assessment with the administrative and supervisory staff. The matrix included depicts the factors and indicators assessed by…

This document describes research which examined the principles of reward and punishment applied to certain types of behavior portrayed by characters illustrated in 30 school readers. It was hypothesized that certain portrayed values, which have political connotations, are being transmitted to young people through the indirect method of…

The conceptual framework behind the model of aggregate U.S. Employment Service (ES) productivity is described in this report (and the companion volume of appendixes) along with the illustrative estimates of ES productivity using the model. Chapter 1 introduces the question of productivity measurement in a social purpose. Chapter 2 contains a…

Individually Guided Education (IGE) is an alternative form of schooling used in a large number of elementary schools. This study of home-school- community relations in an urban, inner city IGE school starts with a summary of the literature on home-school-community relations and an overview of readings related to urban education. In addition, a…

A long-term project entitled Agricultural Manpower Needs in North Dakota examined current and projected agriculture manpower needs in the state. Objectives of the project were to develop a methodology for obtaining and interpreting agricultural manpower needs data for North Dakota, to determine emerging employment trends and identify emerging…