In 1981, the developers of a school-based change effort engaged researchers to conduct an evaluation study employing qualitative methodology that would provide the developers with information that could be used to improve the program. Resource constraints, short timelines, and the developers' preference for useable information encouraged…

A facilitator who was subsequently assigned to the principalship discusses the implementation of the Standards of Excellence model in Philips Elementary School (Denver, Colorado). In implementing the components of Standards of Excellence, principals were required to assume the role of instructional leader. Accordingly, assistance was rendered to…

The usefulness of studying thought processes in the construct validation of ability tests was examined using a sample consisting of 343 Canadian senior high school students. Four levels of probing were used by the interviewer to examine the students' thinking processes while taking the Test on Appraising Observations: (1) think aloud; (2)…

The focus of this study was on the relationship between visual and statistical analyses of time series data and the degree to which characteristics of the data influenced this relationship. A total of 52 teachers took part in evaluating a series of graphs having prespecified characteristics. The independent variables manipulated included: slope,…

Criteria that may be used to assess the quality of individualized education programs (IEPs) for handicapped students are presented, along with nine examples of procedures for recording/displaying pupil performance data, and seven guidelines for modifying instructional programs. After discussing the rationale for IEPs, the following three indices…

This paper reports the results from an investigation of a method for systematic development of a procedure for assessing the administrator and instructional leader roles in implementation of an innovative school program. The purpose of the study was to design and field-test a feasible and useful approach to examining the degree of…

Based on two manuals developed by Goodwill as part of their staff training series on program review, this program evaluation manual is designed to help facility administrators implement and improve their service delivery. The book contains an introduction and nine chapters. The introduction defines program evaluation, provides a rationale and uses…

In designing the "Study of Schooling" research project, it was decided that seven regions in the United States would be studied, and for each region, "triples" would be the focus of the research. A "triple" consisted of a senior high school, a feeder junior high or middle school, and a feeder elementary school.…

This document provides the appendices for volume 1 of the final evaluation report of Project Developmental Continuity (PDC), a Head Start demonstration project initiated in 1974 to develop program models which enhance children's social competence by fostering developmental continuity from preschool through the early elementary grades.…

The logic of using a gain score approach versus longitudinal causal models is studied in this secondary analysis of a complex data base. The gain score model used by the Federal Reserve Bank and the School District of Philadelphia in their "What Works in Reading?" study is successively refined using the LISREL structural equation…

The Institute of Family Studies has completed its fourth year of operation, and government and public demand for input from the Institute is growing beyond its capacity. This report focuses on current operating difficulties as well as on the structure and activities of the Institute. The first section, entitled "Structure and…

This publication was prepared to help college students better understand the significance of the 1980 census. It consists of four parts. Part I discusses the history of U.S. census taking, introduces the Census Bureau as an organization, and examines the planning and administration of the decennial census. Part II provides an overview of census…

In the late 1970s, the Department of Defense requested that the reference population for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) be changed and updated to reflect the current youth population. Analyses of new data collected in 1980 indicated that speeded subtest scores of the new sample were atypically low and that the sample might…

Information available on rural education remains startlingly inadequate--partly because of the great diversity of rural areas, because agencies responsible for data collection disagree on the definition of small/rural schools, and because large metropolitan schools have received far more than their share of attention, research, and financial…

Latent trait model calibration procedures were used on data obtained from a group testing program. The one-parameter model of Wright and Panchapakesan and the three-parameter logistic model of Wingersky, Wood, and Lord were selected for comparison. These models and their corresponding estimation procedures were compared, using actual and simulated…