The Personal Progress Index, designed to assess students' knowledge at regular intervals, is administered at the McMaster University (Ontario) Faculty of Health Sciences three times annually. Feedback is provided to students, and accumulated student performance is determined for summative evaluation. Results over 4 classes (n=400) show it to be…

Evaluates an interactive, instructional Web site that teaches the basic tenets of human performance technology. The methodology, based on a combination of heuristic and formative evaluation techniques, involved measuring attitudinal reactions to the Web site, learning gains from performance scores on practice exercise, and content, navigation, and…

Evaluated the Morro do Diabo State Park environmental education program using the Planning-Process-Product evaluation model. Formative evaluation provided educators with continuous feedback to improve activities. A study of 144 students from grades 5-8 who visited the park to develop environmental awareness demonstrated that the program was…

A survey of 54 pharmacy schools' experiential learning programs found that most either were reviewing or had adopted nationally recognized competencies into their experiential programs, but a third had made no such effort. Almost all used a formative or interim evaluation process and a student performance evaluation process, some with written…

Understanding the link between classroom assessment techniques (CATs) and cognitive learning theory not only allows college teachers to choose and design CATs that fit particular classroom needs, but helps them explicate to students the potential applications of CATs to study strategies in general. Once students make this leap, the effects of a…

This study outlines a formative assessment system using a consistent set of cut scores on Curriculum-Based Measurement-Reading (CBM-R) probes and investigates four statistical methods for establishing cut scores. Cut scores were established using the Minnesota statewide achievement test in reading at grade 3 as the criterion for a successful…

A positive change in the learning environment in schools is visible through ongoing professional development of teachers and administrators. Monitoring the professional development program and providing support to teachers and administrators to transfer their learnings into the school environment ensures some measures of quality. Quality issues…

Portfolios are developmental pictures of students' progress, providing alternative ways to evaluate both products and processes of students' learning. Portfolios also serve as vehicles for involving students in self-evaluation and goal-setting. This sourcebook was written to help teachers begin to use portfolios as an authentic assessment method.…

This booklet, which is intended for individuals responsible for evaluating and improving tech prep and school-to-work programs, examines the history, structure, and use of the Tech Prep/School-to-Work Index and Improvement Program, which was developed to provide a system for conducting internally focused evaluations of tech prep and school-to-work…

The question of whether economic development programs can be evaluated seems simple, but the answer is not simple because of the nature of evaluation. Determining a program's effectiveness requires the evaluator to distinguish changes due to the program from changes due to nonprogram factors. The evaluator must focus on outcomes caused by the…

A formative evaluation was conducted of two elementary schools that have been engaged in the School/Community-Based Management (SCBM) process in Hawaii. The evaluation process was aligned with the SCBM philosophy, which promotes shared decision making, shared responsibility, and collaboration. Stakeholders contributed to the evaluation, which…

The methodology developed for the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications' evaluation of the "New Pathways to a Degree" projects funded by the Annenberg/CPB Project is described. This methodology provides an approach for conducting a valid, reliable evaluation effort that is sensitive to specific institutional issues and…

The report evaluates "Hablar et Parler," a videodisc project that provides Spanish and French language training to elementary school age students under the supervision of a teacher who may or may not have a foreign language background. The project, which was developed by the Utah Videodisc Consortium, consists of a videodisc, a teacher's…

A look at various methods of evaluating vocational education and training in Europe shows traditional practices (correlated with results and objectives) using new interactive approaches. Because of the great variety of situations, levels of awareness, diversity of tools, and multiplicity of participants, the improvement of evaluation practices…

This paper presents ideas for the development and utilization of a comprehensive evaluation plan for an accelerated school. It contains information about the purposes of a comprehensive evaluation, the evaluation design, and the kinds of data that might be gathered and used. The first section, "An Approach to Evaluation: Multiple Purposes and…