Since 1970, quality assurance, or outcomes assessment, has provided guidance for improving pedagogy, curricula and student support programmes in the US. But evidence that student learning has improved remains elusive. Large-scale long-term studies are needed to demonstrate the effects of outcomes assessment on learning.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) uses a suite of assessment tools to guide and reinforce a cycle of activities that creates an institutional culture of planning and decision making based on evidence. This cycle includes institutional planning (goal setting), implementation of plans, assessment of outcomes, use of findings…

Describes the implementation and evaluation of the Tennessee State Plan for Career Education according to provisions of the Career Incentive Act (PL 95-207) during 1979-80 and 1980-81. Indicates Incentive Act funds enabled state and local agencies to make career education an integral part of school curricula. (AH)

A three-year (1979-82) training program funded by the National Institute of Education (NIE) at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is designed to increase participation by women and minorities in educational research. An objective of the project is the provision of practical experience for doctoral students in project design and data…

The Tennessee Nutrition Education and Training (NET) program is part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture effort to develop a coordinated nutrition education program for children from preschool through grade 12. In its first year of operation, the Tennessee NET program conducted summer nutrition education workshops for elementary teachers and…

The Child Health and Development Project (CHDP), a home-based early intervention program operated in six East Tennessee counties, provides well-child clinics, developmental evaluation, individualized early childhood education for disadvantaged children, and training in parenting skills for their parents. The University of Tennessee's Bureau of…

All postsecondary institutions in Tennessee have the opportunity to earn an annual budget supplement for instruction from the state if certain criteria, based on educational outcomes, are obtained. A comprehensive assessment program at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is described. (MLW)

The Experimental Program for Opportunities in Advanced Study and Research in Education was a 3-year training program (1979-82) funded by the National Institute of Education to increase participation in educational research of women and minorities at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. During the third project year, these objectives guided the…

Describes a career development pilot program as a segment of the church school class for secondary students at the Second Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, Tennessee. The program focused on values clarification, tentative career choices, and limited reality testing by means of panels of church adults involved in those occupations. (MF)

A formative evaluation of a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, predoctoral project was conducted. The program, which was funded by the federal Minorities and Women's Program, was designed to increase the participation of minorities and women in educational research and development. The project, "Experimental Program for Opportunities in…

This report describes a project undertaken at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) between January 1, 1982 and March 31, 1984, which was designed to increase the use in program assessment and in program improvement of information derived from measures of: (1) student achievement in general education; (2) student achievement in the major…

A review of externally mandated outcomes assessment activities and resulting innovations in freshman programs focuses on efforts in Tennessee and Virginia, in which higher education funding is linked to outcomes assessment. Areas examined include registration, advising, student-faculty contact, computer use, basic skills, staff development,…

The Knox County extended school year (ESY) program emphasized K-12 curriculum improvement. During the trial of the ESY scheduling and curriculum changes, there was an increase in English and social studies scores at the high school, an increase at all levels in the extent to which students perceived that individualization of instruction was taking…

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission's (THEC) use of a performance criterion in funding higher education is discussed, along with the results of evaluating this initiative. Information on program quality and improvement efforts is a factor in determining the budgetary allocation for each state institution. With funding from the Kellogg…

This paper briefly presents a history of comprehensive examinations in higher education in the United States, characteristics of comprehensive exams, and the use of such exams in assessing program quality. This paper then focuses on the experience of 11 program faculties at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), that developed and used exit…