According to a recent survey, the quality of educational software is the single most stated concern of computer educators in Canada. Only a small fraction of the educational software is evaluated. The evaluation approaches that have emerged to deal with this problem are subjective and unreliable, and they do not provide an overall impression of a…

One hundred of the largest school districts from seven regions were surveyed to scrutinize local teacher evaluation policies and practices, to determine the efficiency of local evaluation instruments and procedures, and to compare local teacher evaluation with state teacher evaluation programs. The Teacher Evaluation Practices Survey (TEPS) was…

The purpose of this study was to assess the need for talking book services by blind or physically handicapped Native Americans residing on reservations in Montana. The Blackfeet Reservation, with a Native American population of approximately 7,000, and the Rocky Boy Reservation, with a Native American population of 2,400, were selected for the…

A large data set of student ratings of college teaching was studied to explore previous indications that student ratings are affected by the subject area of instruction. Previous research by Marsh (1984), Feldman (1978), and Cranton and Smith (1986) reported the influence of factors other than instruction. To examine the impact of subject area on…

In 1989, a study was conducted of the evaluation practices for tenured faculty used by members of the Council of North Central Community Junior Colleges. Questionnaires were mailed to the vice-president for academic affairs/instructional dean and the head of the faculty union/association at the 305 institutions. Information was solicited…

Evaluators usually assume that the data they receive are valid, or at least, that the data reflect that which is being evaluated. In a recent evaluation in a large southern school district, evaluators compared their raw interview notes with interview notes edited by the teachers interviewed or project staff. The program evaluated was Project SEED,…

This report summarizes results from research aimed at improving the quality of information collected about school curriculum. The research sought to design and pilot a model for collecting benchmark data on school coursework. These more indepth data, such as course textbooks, assignments, exams, and teacher logs, can serve as anchors against which…

The problems and accomplishments of a program to evaluate the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program at Walsh College in Canton (Ohio) are described. The college-wide writing program began in 1987 with training workshops for faculty. Stage 1 of the program ended in 1988 with a summative evaluation and the development of a handbook to be used…

This report discusses a multiphase project to develop a user-oriented survey of prior accomplishments of graduate student applicants to aid admissions committees and graduate departments in the selection process. The three phases included: (1) development of three prototype instruments based on a checklist approach, a semi-documented approach, and…

This review of state higher education assessment policies sought to test assumptions and conclusions reached during an initial phase of the study, to explore the dynamics of the process by which assessment becomes a state-level issue or concern, and to better understand the multifaceted relationship between state assessment policy and the…

This paper reports on several generic evaluation methods used by the evaluation office of the Curriculum Research and Development Group of the University of Hawaii (EO-CRDG). Scrivens's (generic) checklist approach was taken one step further by developing generic data collection instruments to be used with any evaluation method: (1) a formative…

Through offering insight into different approaches to quality assurance, with input from those who provide leadership in post-secondary education in British Columbia and Canada, this project's goal is to recommend whether Canadian jurisdictions should consider a new quality assurance regime, and to provide potential new models to consider in that…

Entrepreneurship courses commonly use various kinds of group work, cooperative learning, study circles and study teams. A major challenge of this pedagogy is the unbiased grading of group members based on the accountability of individual performances. This paper provides an approach to using student peer assessment to provide feedback on…

When the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges compiled best practices for serving basic skills students in 2002-2003, assessment practices were notably absent. In this paper, problems with current assessment and placement practices with regards to basic skills are explored. The paper begins with a review of the matriculation process…

This book introduces adult educators and trainers to the principles and techniques of learner evaluation in the various contexts of adult education. The following are among the topics discussed: (1) the purposes of evaluation (the importance of authentic evaluation; principles of evaluation; traps in evaluation); (2) evaluating one's philosophy…