Course evaluation data can be a meaningful resource to improve the human resource development (HRD) practitioner's decision making. Recommended properties of an effective evaluation form are separation of the overall evaluation from the evaluation of specific aspects; a one-to-nine rating scale; strong, explicit verbal anchors on the rating scale;…

Quantitative assessment instruments have been developed to identify those skills or behaviors which individuals with developmental disabilities need in order to become competitively employed, and to measure individuals' progress in the program and hence measure program effectiveness. Such assessment instruments are problematic, as each employment…

A systems approach is applied to the assessment of the Model 4 project (administered by Mountain-Plains Education and Economic Development Program, Inc.), a residential career education program for rural, multiproblem families in the States of Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The program involves three phases of…

The Training Development Group of Barclays Bank (United Kingdom) was formed in 1989 to design cost effective training for the banks employees. Describes the bank's "systems approach" to training design: the training needs analysis, identification of performance competences, determination of behavioral objectives, selection of…

This study examines key theoretical principles of learning-oriented evaluation for HRD programs. Practical guidelines for the implementation of learning-oriented evaluation are also developed based on the related literature. This study suggests that evaluation should be a learning process in which information and knowledge are socially constructed…

This paper describes the simulator phase of Commonwealth Edison's program for training and licensing operators of nuclear power stations. Topics covered include (1) preparing the students before starting the simulator phase; (2) the simulator schedule and the number of students that can be trained effectively in a class; (3) format and structure…

Based on the working papers and the results of seminar discussions on the evaluation of vocational education in various European countries, this volume summarizes current European thinking on the evaluation of training programs. Chapter 1 describes and defines the different levels of analysis which can be used in evaluation: analysis in the…

The project Self-Assessment and Self-Evaluation in New Forms of Training near the Workplace--A Step Towards the Learning Organisation was undertaken in Bavaria, Germany, to help companies begin the process of becoming learning organizations by helping workers manage their own learning. The project is based on the following principles and…

This paper describes the nature and scope of evaluation services provided within the training division of Arthur Andersen & Company, and highlights some of the evaluation results. The cycle of assessment began with a needs assessment study at the curriculum level. Curriculum planning was undertaken for first-year trainees in the Tax Division.…

This paper describes two methodologies designed to address deficiencies in training literature, i.e., procedures which empirically evaluate the content validity of training programs, and strategies linking training programs to needs reassessment and program redesign. In section 1, a methodology for establishing the job relatedness of a police…

To evaluate and document the effectiveness of miner training, a study monitored a wide variety of classroom sessions conducted for new miner and annual refresher training. Seven trainers and 275 mine trainees at fourteen sites in Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia participated. Observations were made of classes in underground new…

This paper discusses a study that investigated whether competencies identified by the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) could be used to document job skills of students with mild disabilities. Participants in the study were 17 teachers, job coaches, and parents associated with a high school special education department…

In the past several years utilization of nonprofessionals in various extension programs has increased. In an attempt to determine what the role of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) nonprofessional is, the paper presents the findings of an analysis of critical incidents acquired from nonprofessional EFNEP extension aides…

These five papers are from a symposium that was facilitated by Darlene Russ-Eft at the 1995 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD). "The Setting of Goals for Skill Acquisition" (Howard J. Klein, Peg Thoms) reports a study of hospital managers that found that goal manipulation did not lead to significant main…

Gilbert (1978) developed a Potential for Improving Performance (PIP) formula based on worth, value, and cost. Worth related the value of a performance to its cost. The PIP related the worth of exemplary performance to the worth of average performance. This offered an opportunity for improvement by making appropriate changes through training or…