Examines the statistical distribution of relevance judgments by reviewing and comparing the results of several studies over the last three decades. A characteristic distribution is examined, and a hypothesis is offered to explain it based on human judging characteristics and the nature of relevance experimentation. (Contains 13 references.) (LRW)

Presents a validated system for evaluating health care literature categorized as research papers, literature reviews, technique articles, opinion pieces, or monographs. Presents questions for critically assessing content and offers suggestions for instructing health care professionals in the use of the system. (SK)

Entertains some general ideas about what arts accountability might look like, keeping in mind the obvious though often overlooked premise that testing should always be in the interests of the children tested. States why accountability is good for reasons beyond its perceived political expediency and outlines some of the major features necessary…

Offers an autoethnographic essay which follows one individual throughout his day to explore how evaluation functions as a fundamental orientation of a scholar's academic life. Questions the individual's relationship to criticism and its presence in the ongoing process of doing one's job and of living one's life. (SR)

Supports the role of reflective parenting, but claims that reflective parenting is not easy to learn or do. Suggests "Reflection In Action," consistently assessing the current and future effects of parents' words and actions, and "Reflection On Action," considering whether parents' words and actions were the best ones under the…

One of the most valuable skills in group decision making is the ability to make trustworthy judgments about group performance. It follows from the "inferential model" of social cognition (Pavitt, 1989; Pavitt & Hight, 1986), that there are three types of judgments relevant to the group context: (1) behavioral (what the group did);…

Given the concern for reliability in essay evaluation and the prospect of "error" variance in its absence, methods to promote interrater reliability in the evaluation of written compositions have been developed. These methods reduce variation in the value systems being applied by readers to texts, either by limiting the group of readers…

It is proposed that the various classes of a priori knowledge incorporated in heuristic reasoning processes exert a strong influence over architectural design activity. Some design problems require exercise of some provisional set of rules, inference, or plausible strategy which requires heuristic reasoning. A case study illustrates this concept.…

Education is inextricably linked with politics; it is used as a means of indoctrination or liberation. Evaluators of educational programs are not neutral; choices are made of methods, objects of study, and potential uses of results. Evaluation tools should take these factors into consideration and focus on organizations rather than individuals in…

The fundamental assumptions of evaluation are recognition of the multiple realities or truths, and importance of rationality. The major roles of evaluation are critical examination, clarification, and facilitation of change. Finally, the evaluator should be aware that political, human, economic, and legal influences on an evaluation relate…

Comments that fuzzy-trace theory is broadly comprehensive and contains compelling experimental manipulations; debates assumptions of the theory. Describes aspects of the historical and theoretical context of the theory and its usefulness in organizing false memory phenomena. Suggests some limitations concerning the representation of child…

Describes the origins of fuzzy-trace theory, including Piagetian, interference, information-processing, and judgment and decision-making influences. Discusses similarities and differences between fuzzy-trace theory and other approaches to memory falsification. Considers the theory's predictions regarding age differences in memory falsification and…

Evaluation research should be viewed as the source of knowledge on two levels: (1) how evaluation studies utilize results, and (2) how the knowledge that was evaluated is utilized. The purpose of this document is to systematically examine the literature pertinent to the utilization of evaluation results. The impetus for legitimization of…

Four teachers comment on the characteristics of people that students consider to be heroes. (EL)

In the school culture, teachers are often caught between sanctioned instructional behavior and their own judgment; governed by legislated edicts, yet not freed by them to nurture their students. The relationship between pedagogic actions and morally acceptable outcomes, between responsibility to the self and to the students, the school, and the…