Changes that have been made in reporting and disseminating information from the National Assessment of Educational Progress are discussed, focusing on those changes brought about by the first Trial State Assessment (TSA). The TSA collected data on the mathematics performance of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in public and private schools in 40…

Issues of the relative costs of multiple choice tests and alternative types of assessment are explored. Before alternative assessments in large-scale or small-scale programs are used, attention must be given to cost considerations and the resources required to develop and implement the assessment. Major categories of cost to be considered are…

Some potential relative advantages of performance assessment strategies over paper-and-pencil tests using short-answer and multiple-choice item formats are discussed. The major advantage of the multiple-choice test is its ability to sample a large number of learning outcomes efficiently. However, performance assessments are increasingly being used…

Two alternative programs for students seeking secondary school teacher certification were compared for cost effectiveness. The most pronounced difference between individuals majoring in education and non-majors seeking teacher certification while completing degree requirements in their chosen field is the number of required semester hours of…

Fifty-two families of students successful in public school and 40 families of students requiring alternative school programs completed self-report instruments on their perceptions of parent-adolescent communication and family functioning. The alternative school programs included residential and day treatment programs for adolescents with emotional…

This guide is intended to assist states and service delivery areas (SDAs) in addressing the new oversight responsibilities and opportunities stipulated by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) with respect to net impact evaluations. It is divided into two main parts. The first part, which deals with issues in evaluating costs and benefits,…

This evaluation of writing in the West Hartford CT Public Schools was part of a large evaluation of English/Language Arts. To provide information for program improvement and growth, the evaluation focused on six issues: (1) the extent of implementation of West Hartford's Composition Program; (2) how teachers use the Composition Program in their…

The book reviews the historical development of geography as discipline and discusses the current status of geography teaching in British schools. Chapter one briefly identifies the rationale for including geography in the educational curriculum. Chapter two traces the role of geography in academic study from ancient Greece to the present. Growth…

In order to assist college and university officials evaluating their institution's financial condition, a simplified workbook approach is presented. The approach encourages administrators to systematically examine the financial condition of their colleges with a tested and specified set of data-gathering and computational steps. The workbook…

The problem of comparing studies and degrees and diplomas completed in different countries and problems that arise in connection with the comparability of studies and the evaluation of competence are examined, and new solutions are suggested. A comprehensive analysis must consider the concerns and needs of the users, including students,…

The Portland Board of Education had requested that the Oregon Central Evaluation Department provide student achievement data so as to allow comparisons with other school districts by reporting national grade level equivalent (GLE) scores on standardized tests of reading and mathematics for grades 4 and 8. For years, the position of most research…

A manual for assessing the effectiveness of an elementary school , taking differences in the school's resources into account, is presented. The Pennsylvania State Board of Education established the Bureau of Educational Quality Assessment which developed a measurement package in Phase I. Field tests were conducted on grade 5 students in 1968 in…

Every year, thousands of new teachers pass through hundreds of different teacher preparation programs and are hired to teach in the nation's schools. In recent years, alternative programs have expanded rapidly. Despite the expansion of these new routes into teaching, little research exists to provide guidance on the effectiveness of different…

This paper examines two cohorts of students, each engaged in an undergraduate management course, but using different means of engagement. One cohort of 90 students completed a real time learning program integrating group dynamics, action research, team performance, and participative decision-making. A second cohort of 171 students completed the…

This paper details the origins of the media comparison study methodology, its current use as an evaluation instrument in distance education, and recommendations for more stringent discrimination between research and evaluation in the field of distance learning. The following topics are discussed: (1) the history of research in instructional…