The Minnesota Research and Development Center for Vocational Education (MRDC) has a major program of research focused on the education of special needs learners. The research study described in this report was a response to the lack of understanding and knowledge about special needs programs and evaluation activities related to these programs. The…

Presented is a guide for assessing the strength and effectiveness of school mathematics programs and for setting directions for change. The guide lists 21 standards under the headings of Instruction, Curriculum and Instructional Materials, the Teacher, and Physical Facilities and Equipment. In a section titled "Implementation," the guide provides…

This report is a case study of a technical evaluation assistance project in each of four states: Alabama, California, Colorado, and Maine. (The project activities in each state included the following: becoming acquainted with the vocational education delivery system and methods of evaluation; identifying problems associated with the evaluation…

This bibliography contains annotations of more than eighty books, review-and-synthesis papers, research reports, evaluation studies, and state-of-the-art essays. Titles are listed alphabetically within one of the following five categories: (1) data-base reports, (2) review-and-synthesis papers, (3) evaluation methodology, (4) empirical studies…

Emphasizing career exploration and internship in the community for gifted and talented high school students, a career education project was implemented in three pilot schools in Jefferson County, Colorado. The model was adapted from an existing model which was designed for the regular school population and based on a prototype model developed by…

Program evaluation enables administrators to determine the merits of existing programs and the need for new ones. It can lead to revision, deletion, or inception of educational programs. This review examines general information on program evaluation, including evaluation design, methodology, and bibliographic materials. Eleven of the documents…

To evaluate a specific program means to compare it against a standard that specifies what the program should be like at a specific time. Standards may be constructed in three ways: surface standards force the definition into a model shaped by scientific procedure; deep standards include information on the inputs, processes, and outputs for each…

Discussed are the processes involved in course evaluation to promote course improvement, some problems of the methodology employed, including the psychometric and illuminative methods, and implications for universities. (JMD)

Teacher educators of the Instructional Leadership Program at the University of Vermont used interactive evaluation procedures (including numerical, process, and summative approaches) to inform their decisions about program improvement through a new training option for regular and special education leaders. (CB)

This paper presents one perspective on a new methodology of program evaluation which defines four phases corresponding to the operational life of a school program. Examples and results are discussed in terms of relevance to basic skills improvement efforts and cost-effects. (LMO)

Describes a management-oriented system for the evaluation of educational programs for gifted children in public schools. Referred to as the Program Analysis and Review System, the approach comprises three sequential steps of program specification, documentation, and outcome determination, which are discussed in detail. (MBR)

Describes the group evaluation procedure in higher education with its incorporation of unstructured and focused interviewing of small student groups, along with evaluator's and students' roles. Its theoretical basis, the clarification of data and data feedback through use of this method, and its advantages are discussed. Fifteen references are…

Federal agencies use information dissemination programs as one of several tools to achieve various social or environmental goals. Evaluations of five federal information dissemination program cases were examined to assist agency efforts in evaluating and improving the effectiveness of such programs. These cases were: Environmental Protection…

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), accredits Wyoming's seven community colleges. Institutional accreditation is a voluntary process that serves the critical purposes of quality assurance and institutional and program improvement. Colleges that are accredited by the HLC…