The heightened interest in college program review is traced to a widespread interest in improving educational quality and the need to respond creatively to financial constraints and external expectations for accountability. Current program reviews have also been designed to aid in decision making about resource reallocation and program…

Purposes for academic program review and diverse institutional approaches to college program review are considered, along with possible outcomes and ways to improve program review. Attention is directed to program review practices at 30 representatives institutions. As background, predominant types of program review over the past 15 years levels…

This digest identifies the issues which must be addressed to make instruments and procedures for assessing school counselor performance efficient, fair, valid, and useful. (BH)

Much of the evaluation of vocational education at the state and local levels has been conducted in response to federal legislation. Although some of the evaluative information has been useful for program improvement, much has been collected only for compliance with federal and state mandates. The educational reform movement has prompted school…

Dealing with issues related to the assessment of community college accountability, effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, student outcomes, and quality improvement, this volume examines the practical considerations of assessment from the perspectives of state-level coordinating boards, accreditation agencies, college presidents, and…

A well-planned and well-conducted evaluation can provide useful information to funding agencies, sponsoring institutions, instructors, and participants. Evaluating an instructional program, such as a workshop or institute, involves collecting, organizing, analyzing, and reporting data about several features of the program and its impact on the…

Five recent studies included in this annotated bibliography highlight the diverse facets of an effective principal evaluation system. A technical report by Jerry W. Valentine and Michael L. Bowman includes a clinical instrument for assessing teachers' perception of principals' effectiveness. In a second report, Daniel L. Duke and Richard J.…

This Digest reviews the literature on the subject of teaching English and language arts to gifted and talented students. It discusses how to identify gifted students, outlines some key principles for developing effective programs in English and language arts for the gifted, and suggests possible methods of evaluating gifted students and programs.…

More than 10,000 instructional software packages have been published for elementary and secondary schools--thousands in each discipline. Unfortunately, not all sources of courseware evaluations are equally reliable; therefore, it is important to determine that evaluations include: (1) critical appraisal of content accuracy; (2) in-depth…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores approaches to, problems with, and trends in large scale writing assessment. The digest first compares direct and indirect assessment approaches, then examines three approaches to scoring: holistic, primary trait, and analytic. It then discusses issues and…

One of the benefits of performance based assessment is its allowance for the teacher to gather information about how the student understands and applies knowledge. In this Digest, the basic steps a teacher should take to plan and execute effective performance-based assessment are outlined. Coverage includes the steps of planning and executing…

Prior to presenting a model for evaluating teacher education progams, it is pointed out that five major issues must be settled before attempting an evaluation: (1) the evaluation's purpose; (2) clients or audience; (3) specific questions to investigate; (4) use of an internal or external evaluator or a combination; and (5) dissemination of the…

Alternative forms of evaluating student progress are changing testing or assessment in U.S. schools. From the teacher-made to the standardized test, the familiar over-emphasis on multiple-choice items is giving way to expanded generative formats in which students are called upon to demonstrate mastery through applications in which they use complex…

At the same time that it is experiencing rapid growth, the field of adult education is struggling with its own maturation and development as a profession. One of the issues related to the professionalization of the adult education field is that of certification. Those who favor professional certification argue that it is a means to develop the…

Although evaluation plays many roles in schools--support for administrative decision-making, curriculum improvement, staff development, public relations, instruction, counseling, diagnosing problems for students and staff, planning--recent studies of school district evaluation practices indicate that little overall consistency exists in the form…