In the prevailing atmosphere of concern for basic skills development, Houston Community College System (HCCS) faculty and administration perceived the need for a self-evaluation of HCCS's developmental studies programs. The purposes of the resulting study are: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of the institution's developmental studies programs by…

Research in Australia on evaluating the application of action research as an action learning tool and its impact on the learning of students, educators, industry, and training providers, explored how that learning, in turn, has impacts on research, learners, educators, and the community. In the field of social and community services, in…

Reviews research data to identify design criteria for a school-family policy system that includes evaluation of teachers' relations with families. Finds that evaluation of teachers' relationships with families is valuable to fostering school-family partnerships. Provides parent involvement policies to consider as fair criteria for evaluating…

Seven articles on the evaluation of high technology educational media are presented. Topics covered include hardware and software evaluation, acquired immune deficiency syndrome education, computer-based educational evaluation in the Netherlands, evaluation of educational television in Israel, broadcasting research, interactive video, and effects…

Briefly presents the results of an evaluation of a Hong Kong social skills training class. The class used Western-style training in that problem-solving skills, communication skills, relaxation skills, and assertiveness training were taught from a cognitive perspective. The evaluative instruments suggested significant improvement for the students.…

Early childhood educators and school personnel increasingly will be working with children and families from diverse economic, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. While the student population is rapidly becoming diverse, the teaching force remains predominantly White and from middle-class backgrounds (Whitebook, 2003). This growing…

Most other nations have a very different approach to measuring academic achievement at the end of high school and signaling that information to universities and other interested parties. In Australia, Denmark, England, Scotland, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and many Canadian and German provinces, for example, high school exit…

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine the practice validity of a new ecological assessment instrument for third through fifth graders in terms of whether it provided school staff with new knowledge about students. Method: Preassessment knowledge of school staff was compared to data obtained from 21 children and their parents…

The National Science Foundation is sponsoring 26 Statewide Systemic Initiative Projects to promote innovative curricula for teaching mathematics and science. A plan for evaluating and assessing systemic change has been designed and implemented at one of them in Puerto Rico. The perspective used to guide this paper is based on the principles that…

This study evaluates two databases, "Historical Abstracts" and REESWeb, to determine their effectiveness in supporting academic social science research. While many performance evaluations gather quantitative data from isolated query and response transactions, this study is a qualitative evaluation of the databases in the context of…

While the publication of school report cards and profiles is common in a number of states, their contents and formats vary as they represent the concerns and initiatives of policymakers. Over recent years, several studies have been made of school report cards and profiles. In this investigation, the focus is a comparison of report cards and…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a second language program in seven schools in a medium-sized school district in central California during the 1994-95 school year. Three educational levels (elementary, middle, and high school) were examined from the perspectives of teachers (n=194), administrators (n=23), instructional aides (n=40),…

In response to changing management and budgetary strategies that have been driving decision making to the lowest administrative levels, institutional researchers have been attempting to identify indicators which can be used to evaluate institutional performance and progress. This paper reviews efforts to introduce departmental operational…

The whole language approach to reading instruction emphasizes a literature-based program rather than the traditional skills-related approach. The principles and practices of whole language have engendered both educational and political debate for the following reasons: whole language challenges the traditional educational power arrangement, giving…

This exploration of educational improvement through student assessment focuses on the Schoolyear 2000 (SY2000) program developed by the Center for Educational Technology at Florida State University in conjunction with the Florida Department of Education Planning Resources Committee. SY2000 consists of 10 functional subsystems that will operate in…