Curriculum alignment (CA) refers to the congruence of all the elements of a school's curriculum: curriculum goals; instructional program--what is taught and the materials used; and tests used to judge outcomes. CA can be a very powerful can be a very powerful factor in improving schools. Although further research is needed on CA, there is…

This paper examines trends in the use of research and evaluation resources in the Dallas (Texas) Independent School District (DISD) and in other school districts throughout the country. First, the organization and functions of the Department of Research, Evaluation, and Audit of the DISD are presented and compared to those of 7 years ago. Second,…

Assessment of student learning and development has become a national issue. The status of local campus initiatives was considered in a national survey designed to determine (1) the extent to which assessment programs have been developed or are being developed, (2) the objectives and source of initiation, and (3) assessment techniques. Emphasis was…

A glossary providing a common set of definitions for thinking and talking about assessment policy in undergraduate education is presented. Terms with more general meaning are defined only in this specific context. This glossary was developed as part of a series of Education Commission of the States case studies of state-based approaches to…

This report is the fourth of a series on cultivating excellence in education for the purpose of training and retraining school leaders of the 1990s. The role of school administrators in program evaluation and the purposes of program evaluation form the content of this four-part report. Part 1 establishes the context for program evaluation within a…

A model for faculty development in colleges of education was developed based on the research on school planning, program and staff development, and school assessment. A needs assessment instrument was developed to identify training needs of principals in instructional leadership roles, and the instrument was revised to assess training needs of…

The role of state-level goals in providing a framework for assessing the performance of postsecondary education in Georgia is considered. The effort of the Governor's Committee on Postsecondary Education in developing goals and indicators of goal achievement and in analyzing performance is described. The Committee developed a set of goals and…

A perspective on quality in higher education suggests that standards and assumptions about quality that have been traditionally accepted for upper level colleges are not applicable to community colleges. It is proposed that quality standards be established for community colleges to reflect their unique mission and goals. The most distinctive…

A 1978 conference report on major issues of the 1980s in statewide coordination and governance in postsecondary education is presented as part of an inservice education program. The introduction to the report contains the conference summary by Jerome M. Pollack. The keynote address by Richard Millard is presented in three separate sections,…

The purpose of this handbook is to provide local administrators with some basic guidelines which will enable them to conduct a needs assessment in their areas. The handbook contains a description of the model, sample forms, procedures, and techniques that a local administrator will need in order to conduct a needs assessment. It is divided into…

The use of the Community College Goals Inventory (CCGI) to assess priorities assigned to institutional goals and to estimate priority changes required to reach intended outcomes was studied. The CCGI consists of goal statements that mainly cover outcome and process goal areas. Respondents indicate their perceptions of how much importance is…

The first segment of a long-term educational assessment plan, for which this three-part report was compiled, called for a study that would survey the status of English language arts programs in the province of British Columbia and serve as a pilot for future assessment programs. This portion of the study deals with the initial phase of the…

The first segment of a long-term educational assessment plan, for which this three-part report was compiled, called for a study that would survey the status of English language arts programs in the province of British Columbia and serve as a pilot for future assessment programs. This portion of the study presents the results of the second phase of…

This paper presents a discussion of issues raised in the evaluation of Project Follow Through reported by Abt Associates. The paper suggests that many of the problems inherent in the design of both the program and the evaluation stem from the underlying assumption that one educational model could be found which would best alleviate the educational…

One of a series of monographs to encourage reexamination of evaluation issues and perspectives about schools and schooling, this booklet is a statement on teacher education, teacher accountability, evaluation, and the teacher as researcher. Included are an introduction and five subsequent sections: (1) Educational Jargon; (2) The Open Education…