Findings from an Employee Satisfaction Survey conducted in spring 2000 at Austin Community College (ACC) (Texas) indicate that: (1) staff in many areas need customer service training; (2) telephones are not used effectively by many offices; (3) many areas are not able to respond quickly to the needs of college staff; and (4) 18 highly used areas…

The Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) provides information on psychological impairment, including a score for the child's overall functioning as well as scale scores for eight psychosocial areas: school, work, home, community relationships, moods, self-harmful behavior, substance use, and abnormal thinking. This symposium…

This monograph contains the invited papers of the major speakers at the Educational Policy Institute's Invitational Conference on Quality in Higher Education held at Oxford University, summer 2000. The purpose of the conference was to discuss how quality is being defined and measured in the context of higher education. The papers are: (1) "Quality…

An educational digital environment that will provide appropriate methods and techniques for the support and enhancement of the educational and learning process is a valuable tool for both educators and learners. In the context of such a mission, the educational tool SL-EDGE (Student Library-Educational DiGital Environment) has been developed. The…

An observation study examined four dimensions of beginning teacher practice that had been heavily emphasized in the first year of a partial internship program and that typically pose problems for first year teachers. These dimensions included: (1) literacy instruction; (2) instructional planning; (3) positive classroom environments and management;…

This handbook offers guidance to teachers for obtaining and evaluating feedback on courses and programs of study at institutions of higher education in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Part 1 examines the purposes and functions of feedback, defines key terms, and summarizes key steps in the feedback process. Part 2 discusses the preparation…

This paper presents the results of the first-year evaluation of Bridging the Digital Divide in South Florida, a 3-year Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers To Use Technology grant. Over the 3 years of this project, elementary school teachers from two Florida counties, college professors, and preservice teachers from two Florida universities will work…

Whether increasing reliance on policy-driven assessment for accountability and control of educational institutions is actually sabotaging long-term goals and purposes of the schools is explored, questioning whether current practices of high-stakes testing are anathema to real education values. The distinction between policy-driven assessment and…

An assessment was conducted of an undergraduate psychology program at Santa Clara University (California) using satisfaction data from alumni, current undergraduates, and full-time psychology faculty. A survey was developed based on themes identified during structured focus groups with undergraduate psychology seniors and interviews with…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a portfolio program for assessing student performance. The targeted population consisted of elementary and middle grade students in two schools. The inadequacy of traditional evaluation methods was documented by means of parent and staff surveys. Common discrepancies were found in student…

The author describes a cluster of evaluation devices for conference and institute settings: (1) participant daily diaries, (2) individual information request forms ("quickie notes"), (3) an end-of-course performance contract, and (4) an open-ended forced-choice evaluation questionnaire. An ubiquitous observer's role includes reviewing all…

Purpose of this statement is to present some major guidelines for the development of Ed.D. and Ph.D. dissertations in the area of adult education. (Author)

Discusses the use of personal letters written between students and teachers in a reading methods course, noting its effects on student motivation and interest and on program evaluation. (VJ)

The impact of inservice generated staff knowledge changes on the behavior of 42 mentally retarded adults was assessed. Findings demonstrated an effective time-efficient means of collecting client behavior change data, as well as a 51 percent growth in measured staff knowledge, anD a decrease in each of nine targeted maladaptive behaviors.…

This paper presents four challenges facing multidisciplinary teams (MDT): (1) ensuring efficient use of available time; (2) developing the skills and knowledge base of team members; (3) assigning available personnel resources; and (4) developing strategies for reduction of team member stress guidelines for planning internal MDT evaluation…