The Competency Development Scales (CDS) for teachers of exceptional children is described as an instrument to evaluate teacher skills and aid in subsequent planning of appropriate inservice training. The CDS consists of five major skill areas: general competence (such interpersonal skills as enthusiasm, responsibility, patience, and…

The digest presents an overview of program evaluation in gifted and talented education. Reasons for program evaluation are offered, including the need to base decision making on valid and reliable data and the demands of accountability. Eight purposes of program evaluation are briefly considered: (1) documentation of the need for a program; (2)…

This digest focuses on issues of supervisory evaluation and feedback. It suggests that there exist some fairly basic premises from educational psychology, educational evaluation, and counselor supervision literature that can improve supervision evaluation practices, and thus reduce the ambiguity and uncertainty about evaluation in supervision.…

The digest addresses ways in which gifted and talented students are identified. Commonly used identification systems include matrix systems, the Talent Search Identification Model, and the Revolving Door Identification Model. Major questions about identification practices include inappropriate use of certain instruments and the inadequacy of…

This topical bibliography and commentary addresses methods of alternative, or informal, assessment that have proven effective, and how these methods have been, or can be, established as reliable alternatives to standardized testing. It discusses authentic assessment, forms of alternative assessment (unstructured written activities, unstructured…

The ongoing reform of mathematics instruction creates a need to refine students' assessment practices. This digest describes portfolios and provides information about the types, focus, and content of mathematics portfolios. The advantages and disadvantages of portfolio assessment are also discussed, and a list of World Wide Web resources related…

This Digest introduces the advantages and disadvantages of three commonly used methods of reporting test score changes: (1) change in percentile rank; (2) scale or raw score change; and (3) percent change. The change in percentile rank method focuses on the increase or decrease of the mean percentile ranking for a group of students. This method…

Educators use informal theories and assumptions to guide their actions, yet often fail to evaluate these beliefs. This digest examines the nature and purpose of educational-indicator systems and discusses the design of report cards by which schools can inform the public of their performance. An indicator is any statistic that casts light on the…

Educators use informal theories and assumptions to guide their actions, yet often fail to evaluate these beliefs. This ERIC Digest in Spanish examines the nature and purpose of educational-indicator systems and discusses the design of report cards by which schools can inform the public of their performance. An indicator is any statistic that casts…

This Critical Issue Bibliography (CRIB) Sheet presents resources on college rankings publications, criticisms of rankings methodology, effects of the rankings on the public, and alternatives to the major rankings guides. The annotated bibliography lists 5 Internet resources and 17 other resources, all of which are in the ERIC database. (SLD)

At the same time that it is experiencing rapid growth, the field of adult education is struggling with its own maturation and development as a profession. One of the issues related to the professionalization of the adult education field is that of certification. Those who favor professional certification argue that it is a means to develop the…

The role of instructional television (ITV) in elementary and secondary education is assessed, beginning with an overview of the history of the medium from the first experimental educational broadcasts in 1933 to the present. Research in the area is reviewed, and three primary methods of evaluation are identified: (1) basic research, which measures…

Five alternatives to standardized testing of student achievement are described in this brief overview. The first, criterion-referenced tests, are designed to evaluate the accomplishment of specifically stated instructional objectives. Student performance is judged on the basis of the objectives, rather than in comparison to other students taking…

An earlier Digest described the shortcomings of three methods commonly used to summarize changes in test scores. This Digest describes two less commonly used approaches for examining changes in test scores, those of Standardized Growth Estimates and Effect Sizes. Aspects of these two approaches are combined and applied to the Iowa Test of Basic…

This Critical Issue Bibliography (CRIB) Sheet focuses on post-tenure review of higher education faculty. Post-tenure review is the planned evaluation of faculty that have been awarded tenure. The way in which post-tenure review is executed varies by campus, but the process usually involves in-class evaluation, meetings with administrators about…