In 1989 the North Central Higher Learning Commission joined a growing movement to improve learning and classroom assessment. The movement called for a more inclusive type of assessment that involves tasks other that learning for testing. The Association of American Colleges and Universities agreed and proposed new Principles of Excellence…

Accreditation in higher education institutions continues to be regarded as the seal of collegiate quality even while questions have been raised about its effectiveness and what the process accepts as evidence of improved student learning. As a result, many regional accrediting agencies are requiring higher education institutions to implement…

The purpose of this article is to describe a procedure that has been used successfully to evaluate the critical thinking (CT) abilities of a population of undergraduates having limited proficiency in the English language. The results of this study demonstrate that it is possible to obtain reliable evaluations of CT skills in undergraduates who…

This document applies Dr. Mehar Aurora's method for conducting cost benefit studies to the Food Manufacturing Technology-Dairy and the Food Manufacturing Technology-Canning and Freezing programs offered by the Moraine Park Technical Institute. Costs to individual students enrolled in the programs include tuition, fees, housing, travel, books,…

The Research, Planning and Development Office of Milwaukee Area Technical College has developed a program evaluation procedure that quantitatively assesses 13 variables considered to be important indicators of program viability. These variables are used in three separate stages of the program evaluation: program monitoring, in-depth program…

This study evaluates how various colleges across the country determine the effectiveness of their remedial/developmental programs. The author sectioned the country into 4 quadrants and solicited participation from 80 randomly selected colleges. A total of 50 colleges (63%) responded from over 30 states. Using personal interviews, case studies,…

A screening mechanism using objective data was developed to determine which of the nearly 60 different associate degree and diploma occupational programs offered by Gateway Technical Institute should be subjected to in-depth evaluation and at what frequency the evaluation should be conducted. Four factors for which objective data were available…

States that, with limited budgets and taxpayers becoming more results oriented, institutions of higher education must develop evaluation processes to ensure that programs are meeting the needs of stakeholders. Describes one such process at Fox Valley Technical College (Wisconsin) that includes: (1) selection of programs; (2) preliminary…

Program evaluation at Waukesha County Technical Institute consists of two phases: a review of student enrollment, job placement, and program costs, which occurs every two years; and a comprehensive review of program content, student job performance, and instructional effectiveness, which occurs every five years. A schedule for conducting program…

In Great Britain, interest in the measurement of value added was stimulated initially by the requirement that schools and further education (FE) colleges publish league tables of examination results. Value-added data can be aggregated to compare different institutions' performance. Within colleges, value-added data provide a basis for setting…

In accordance with provincial educational regulations, Quebec's community colleges have adopted "politiques institutionnelles d'evaluation des apprentissages" (PIEA), or institutional policies of the evaluation of learning. This report provides a synthesis of evaluations of the PIEA conducted by the province's Commission on the…

Criteria for the evaluation of quality technical educational programs must be identified if follow-up studies are to be effective. Current research shows that problems in the development of such criteria include the tendency to evaluate programs on the basis of organizational structure rather than on the quality of the instructional program…

This two-part report by the Commission on Evaluation of Quebec's Council of Colleges focuses on the progress of the province's colleges in developing and implementing legislatively mandated policies concerning the evaluation of learning. Chapter 1 identifies the 107 of 112 colleges with written policies meeting the criteria established by the…

This two-part report by the Commission on Evaluation of the Council of Colleges in Quebec focuses on the progress of the province's colleges in developing and implementing legislatively mandated policies concerning the evaluation of apprenticeships. Chapter 1 identifies the 95 colleges with policies meeting the criteria established by the…

This study used the Bayesian Theorem and cost/effectiveness analysis to measure the short and long range effectiveness and minimum costs of individualized instructional units constructed by educational development officers for use with low-income students at four North Carolina technical institutes designated as developing institutions. Students…