Promoting creativity is considered an important goal of education, but creativity is notoriously hard to define and measure. In this paper, we make the journey from defining a formal creativity and applying the measure in a practical domain. The measure relies on core theoretical concepts in creativity theory, namely fluency, flexibility, and…

The majority of "The Standards for Evaluations of Programs, Projects, and Materials" (SEPPM) turns out to be helpful for Israeli evaluators in checking their working plans and reviewing evaluation studies. Nevertheless, the lack of overriding rationale or of theoretical anchors for the SEPPM creates difficulties in adapting them to local…

This paper has two aims, each bearing on recent developments in evaluation policy. The first is to summarize a report presented in 1980 to the United States Congress and Department of Education, concerning evaluation policy and practices at the national, state, and local levels of government. The second aim is to link some of the United States…

Since the measurement of school achievement involves the administration of achievement tests to various grades on various subjects, both grade level and subject matter contribute to within-school achievement variations. To determine whether achievement test scores vary most among different fields within a grade level, or within fields among…

Prediction of clinical performance of medical students in the clerkship phase was made possible in the earliest phase of medical education by a comprehensive and integrative evaluation instrument entitled "Integrative Examination" (INTEX). A proportional sample of the content learned throughout the year is integrated for measuring…

This investigation documents the impact of the Van Leer Study, a large-scale evaluation study of achievement in the primary schools of Israel. It is intended to increase understanding of the process of evaluation utilization, showing how evaluation findings and other kinds of information can work together, over time and in a variety of ways, to…

Hypothesis generation has been proven to be a crucial phase in the clinical inquiry. The current instruments for measuring clinical problem-solving skills, however, are unable to differentially assess the hypothesis generating ability. For assessing this particular capability a new test is described. It is based upon exposing the examinee to an…

The reputation of teacher educators in two Israeli universities as conceived by four role set groups--faculty colleagues in arts and sciences, student teachers, practicing secondary teachers, and teacher educators themselves--was studied. Six dimensions of reputation selected for the study were: credibility, knowledgeability in their speciality,…

Introducing a wider perspective of evaluation into the school by developing school-based evaluation mechanisms is discussed. The approach is based on conceptual development derived from U.S. perspectives on program evaluation, actual work in schools with teachers and principals in Israel, and empirical studies in the United States. (SLD)

How teachers restructured their professional knowledge (PK) was studied using data from a Tel Aviv (Israel) University workshop for experienced writing teachers that was designed to change their professional orientation from technical rationality to reflection in action. Workshop participants included 18 teachers with 10 to 35 years of teaching…

The relationship among various characteristics of evaluation studies and their overall quality was studied using all of the evaluation studies (N=366) conducted in Israel over 30 years on special projects for disadvantaged students at the elementary school level. The following variables were defined to describe each study: (1) evaluation…

Group participation by Israeli youth is examined in light of the Theory of Status Characteristics and Expectation States. This theory maintains that social and/or group status influences expectations of competence and triggers self-fulfilling prophecies of performance. An experiment designed to prevent unwanted dominance of high status…