It is suggested that the developmental phases of program evaluators replicate those of the profession of program evaluation. A trend in program evaluation from program amelioration to program advocacy and ultimately to program accountability is projected. (Author/MH)

This article highlights difficulties in replicating the Andras Peto Institute for Motor Disorders in Hungary by establishing the Birmingham (England) Institute for Conductive Education, for children with cerebral palsy. Difficulties included a lack of conductive education principles in clear English, failure to properly identify children who could…

If art education is to be a required subject, it needs validation. Needed is an art curriculum development project, similar to 1960 projects in math and physics, that is sponsored by an agency respected both by the academic and school establishments and by the general public. (Author/RM)

Notes that educators of business communication have felt isolated and powerless fighting administration. Presents four challenges for business communication educators to: (1) support plain language across the continents; (2) strengthen relationships with practitioners; (3) remove the basic skills yoke that has burdened educators for so long; and…

Two sections comprise this essay describing the process of planning for educational change. The first section defines values, goals, and operating procedures. These factors combine to facilitate educational change. The second section identifies the three phases of educational planning. Needs assessment, management techniques, and evaluation…

Smith describes the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education's provider approval program, a mechanism for assessing the quality of available continuing education programs. She maintains that the issue is not one of mandatory continuing education, but of ensuring the existence of programing which uses accepted principles of adult education. (SK)

Four influential studies on school effectiveness reported by Brookover and Lezotte (1979), Edmonds and Frederiksen (1979), Phi Delta Kappa (1980), and Rutter and others (1979) are limited in their usefulness as recipes for creating effective schools by the following four issues: (1) The four studies differ in their definition of what…

Vocational education programs cannot and should not serve all the population groups targeted by the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). Rather, they should and must collaborate and cooperate with the manpower community. In order to do that five major policy issues need to be dealt with: getting agreements to collaborate, prime…

Issues pertaining to the documentation of positive outcomes for severely handicapped learners as a function of their educational programs are addressed, and the value of the general evaluative concept of educational validity is emphasized. Issues related to the current overreliance on the single-subject experimental model are also discussed. (SEW)

A vacuum exists in the systematic collection of data on Continuing Education for Women (CEW). CEW programs must become accountable by maintaining records to demonstrate user patterns and program effectiveness. The author outlines specific suggestions for assessment, evaluation, and research; three areas which are integral to the mission of CEW…

Explores need for development of validation and certification procedures. Performance measures used for these procedures must come from on-job experiences. Validity of measures depends on similarity of participant's performance to job exercises. Outlines how to develop reliable job performance measures necessary for job certification and…

This editorial addresses issues in the social validity of curriculum content for children with severe disabilities and notes the empirical validation of educational practices over the past 15 years. It also introduces four papers comprising a special feature titled "Meaningful Outcomes for Students with Severe Disabilities." (DB)

In 1994, California regulations regarding distance education courses were changed to expand the range of allowed instruction, affecting regulations related to class size, instructor-student contact, and apportionment methods and requiring local curriculum committees to review and approve distance courses. To provide the committees with a basis for…

Summarizes major points of NAEYC's revised position, describing how the revision builds on and expands the previous document through the growing knowledge base and the input of practitioners who used the original publication. Discusses the historical context within which the position statement was written, and summarizes the revisions. Discusses…

This paper discusses the practice of social validity assessment in applied behavior analysis, proposes elements that should be included in state-of-the art assessment procedures, offers a taxonomy of consumers to guide the construction and circulation of assessments, and suggests strategies to improve social validity assessment. (JDD)