Higher education in general, and engineering higher education in particular, is constantly under pressure to introduce reforms that improve the employability of graduates. Among the most common claims is the development of a more active and competency-based teaching oriented to the development of professional and personal skills. The university…

The purpose of this research was to ascertain the methods used to evaluate music faculty and whether achievement measures, or student progress, impact the evaluations made about teacher effectiveness for music faculty in the higher education context. The author surveyed Chairs of Departments or Directors of Schools of Music (n = 412) listed as…

This report was written by the Task Force on Educator Preparation and Entry into the Profession. The task force is made up of current and former chiefs who are members of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) with input from partners at the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) and the National Governors…

The growing use of part-time, non-tenure track faculty in higher education has become a nationwide phenomenon. The college-teaching part-time instructor is one who is working for low pay, has little job security, and has few benefits. College part-time instructors' employment is in a contingent state. They do not have the job protection provided…

Suggests two principles for successful evaluation of college faculty members: chairs should know their departments; and "always, always pay attention." Describes how the chair of the English department at Michigan State University developed and implemented these suggestions. (RS)

Federal education policy in recent years has encouraged state and local education agencies to embrace data use and analysis in decision-making, ranging from policy development and implementation to performance evaluation. The capacity of these agencies to make effective and methodologically sound use of collected data for these purposes remains an…

Examines teaching effectiveness as it affects faculty and administrators in departments of speech communication. Summarizes a survey of current evaluation practices in these departments. Discusses what these practices mean for both faculty who are seeking promotion and tenure and administrators who participate in these decisions. (MS)

These four issues of the CSSEDC Quarterly (Conference for Secondary School English Department Chairpersons) represent the quarterly for 1990. Articles in number 1 deal with student teachers and include: "Student Teaching: Smoothing Out the Rough Spots" (Susan B. Argyle and Fred C. Feitler); "A Partnership for Urban Student…

Department heads from 134 institutions (mainly universities) indicated the weight they generally give to various criteria for evaluating individual faculty members. The questionnaire they responded to included: criteria used for evaluating overall faculty performance; sources of information for evaluating teaching; and kinds of information used…

This book presents 11 contributed papers which examine communication aspects of the department chair position in academia. It is noted that most academic department chairs are not trained in management skills, including communication strategies. After an introductory chapter by Christopher H. Spicer and Ann Q. Staton, the following papers are…

Focuses on the annual faculty review by the department head. Suggests how this procedure can become more meaningful and includes a Performance Standards form. (PD)

Although the ultimate purpose of faculty evaluation should be improvement of instruction, it appears that most evaluation systems criticize or reject rather than attain better teaching performance. The evaluation instrument in the Department of Media Communication Science at Trenton State College has been lacking in certain evaluative criteria in…

This study focused on department heads'/ chairs' perceptions of the appraisal interview (a face-to-face interpersonal communication event), assessment of the faculty member's role in the appraisal interview, and assessment of the academic administrator's role in the appraisal interview. The results indicate that approximately 20% of respondents…

Examines the publication pattern of faculty within departments of educational administration. (Author/IRT)

Topics under examination in this article are: what we evaluate and why, humane and scientific evaluation, a plan for classroom visits, and the department as a medley of teaching excellence. (ND)