General guidelines exist for reporting and interpreting test scores, but there are short comings in the available technology, especially when applied to criterion-referenced tests. Concerns that have been expressed in the educational measurement literature address the uses of test scores, the manner of reporting scores, limited testing knowledge…

Discusses the need for more explicit data on successful retention programs. Considers problems in collecting institutionwide, local, state, regional, and national information. Urges leadership from professional associations to establish policy directions ensuring the availability of student retention information. (DMM)

A systems theory approach to information requirements in education and in evaluation strategies is applied to decision making. Educational decision making itself involves long range planning, system structuring to implement goals, system allocation (cost), and system monitoring which provides the feedback. Each level requires differential…

This book describes how schools can develop and utilize portfolios as frameworks for evaluating school reform. The portfolio is a nonthreatening self-assessment tool that exhibits a school's goals, progress, achievement, and vision for improvement. Chapter 1 examines the school portfolio as an effective and positive, ongoing monitoring system that…

In order to sort out a comprehensible total picture regarding needs assessment and to develop a useful conceptual framework for this area, a comprehensive review of the needs assessment literature pertinent to the concerns of postsecondary education was conducted. The review found that needs assessment is a viable tool for input to planning, but…

The State Research Coordination Units (RCU's) are in an optimum position to provide linkage between the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and its users as part of a comprehensive vocational-technical education information dissemination system. Realizing this, the Center for Vocational and Technical Education developed this guide with…

The use of target setting in conjunction with good information systems in colleges and work-based learning (WBL) providers can lead to improved service provisions across the sector in the United Kingdom. Target setting must be carried out in a systematic way in which providers must develop target- setting processes with a focus on learner success;…

The paper describes how information regarding future trends is collected and made available to educational policy makers. Focusing on educational implications of social and population trends, the paper is based on data derived from use of trend forecasting by educational policy makers in Florida and other southeastern states. The document is…