A study compared the benefits of using the Hewlett-Packard HP-41CV hand-held computer, as opposed to conventional training without computers, in teaching mathematics to fire control systems repairers. Thirty soldiers in a course to train fire control systems repairers received training in technical mathematics using the hand-held computer, whereas…

This handbook is designed to guide teachers, administrators, supervisors, inservice coordinators, and teacher educators in conducting time-use analyses. Discussed in the first two chapters of the guide are key concepts and definitions pertaining to time-use analysis and highlights of research dealing with time use in education. The remaining three…

This proposal for the Atlanta (Georgia) Dropout Prevention Collaborative cites as its mission the linkage of the public school system with parents, agencies, businesses, and the general community in a cohesive entity designed to promote activities to lower the dropout rate. The Collaborative has the following objectives: (1) to promote the…

Efforts at the University of California, Davis, (UC Davis) to develop standard evaluation models for remedial programs are described, and three UC Davis evaluation studies are considered. A standard evaluation model entails a formal orientation, a singular values perspective, and a primary audience of program funders and oversight agencies. The…

The National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE) was consulted to improve the formative evaluation design for the Principles of Technology (PT) curriculum materials developed by the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD) and the Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT). Because the NCRVE entered the formative…

This report includes an overview of the design and procedures used in the junior high school phase of a study of managing academic tasks (MAT) conducted by the Research on Classroom Learning and Teaching Program at the University of Texas at Austin. A description of the current status of data analysis, a summary of preliminary findings, and…

Birnbaum's three-parameter logistic item response model was used to study guessing behavior of low ability examinees on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test, Verbal Measure. GRE scoring procedures had recently changed, from a scoring formula which corrected for guessing, to number-right scoring. The three-parameter theory was used…

Design-based research is proposed as a strategy to address the need for innovation in educational contexts. The article argues the case for increased and more effective research and development in education, and then presents a discussion of design-based research as a methodological set of tools to address this need. The four phases of…

Specifications for the types of information necessary for the evaluation of nontraditional college programs involve: content, respondent groups, schedule for data collection, possible instruments and forms of response, and presentation of the information to different groups. One important issue is the need for more precise definitions of…

The first half of this monograph provides an overview of the theoretical concerns of evaluators. Definitions are provided of accountability, measurement, assessment, evaluation research, formative and summative evaluation, goal-free evaluation, goal-based evaluation, and evaluation. Several models of evaluation are described and discussed,…

Information reporting at traditionally black colleges and universities was reviewed, based on the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) files for 36 institutions. The objective was to determine the quality of the data submitted by seven of these institutions, and to suggest actions for improving the quality of the HEGIS information…

A detailed description is provided of the variable information acquisition (IA), which is part of the analysis in phase I of the Evaluation of Practices in Individualized Schooling. The variable is defined; the questionnaires on which the variable is based are listed; the procedures used to scale the variable are explained; the distribution of the…

A study assessed the feasibility of conducting a national cost-benefit analysis of vocational education and presented recommendations for future research on the relationship between vocational education costs and benefits. Following an analysis of the state of the art in utilizing cost-benefit methodologies to evaluate vocational education, a…

Design, application, and interpretation of a three-tiered sampling framework as a strategy for eliciting public participation in planning and program implementation is presented, with emphasis on implications for federal programs which mandate citizen participation (for example, Level B planning of Water Resources Planning Act, Federal Water…

Produced as part of the Targeted Outcomes Field Development Project, this handbook provides basic guidelines that can be used by community colleges for organizing and conducting community impact studies. An introductory chapter touches on the broad range of economic, educational, social, and technological impacts which community colleges have upon…