This paper focuses on the mechanics of assessing the impact of educational technology. The basics of program evaluation, research design, data collection and analysis, and report generation are covered to provide useful information to those responsible for program evaluation research and to decision makers, who are the usual recipients of…

This document presents a model of school completion outcomes and the indicators of these outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities. School completion is defined in a number of ways, including Grade 12, end of school, and time of "aging out" of eligibility for educational services. The document includes a conceptual…

Disorder and linearity are essential to science, but empirically derived laws indicate that counts do reflect underlying structure and can support inference. Starting from the premise that a linear structure underlies data, G. Rasch deduced that the necessary and sufficient mechanism to convert from counts to linear measures is the logistic ogive.…

In this paper a quadratic curve equating method for different test forms under a random-group data-collection design is proposed. Procedures for implementing this method and related issues are described and discussed. The quadratic-curve method was evaluated with real test data (from two 30-item subtests for a professional licensure examination…

A model procedure, implemented in 1976 at Thomas Nelson Community College (Virginia), for community based and continuous long-range planning is described in this report. The model involves extensive participation by all community segments and presents strategies for review, approval, and research in support of the plan. Planning components include…

This paper provides a model to assist local program planners, administrators, and other decisionmakers in the assessment of local drug abuse conditions and problems. The model presents data on which to base everyday judgments about drug abuse, to plan for drug abuse services, and to allocate limited resources on local levels. Drug abuse indicators…

This report summarizes the findings and describes the products of a 2-part research project that examined the parameters of Washington's interlibrary loan cooperation statewide, and developed a set of computer models to be used in simulation studies of associated activities and policies. It contains a statement of the problem; an historical…

The philosophy and assumptions of the Multi-Attribute Utility-Bayesian Decision Theoretic model (MAUT-Bayesian model) are presented. The evaluator uses the MAUT-Bayesian model along with the knowledge of the decision-maker's, and perhaps the evaluator's own values to decide what data should be collected. Appropriate data are presented to the…

The development of a prototype system is described which merges the strengths of computer assisted instruction, data gathering, interactive learning, individualized instruction, and the motion in color, and audio features of television. Creation of the prototype system will allow testing of both TV and interactive CAI/TV strategies in auditory and…

A method is presented by which decision makers may establish priorities for the collection of data to be used as input to the decision-making process. It is assumed that the experience, intuition, and previously collected data will influence the decision, as will the constraints of design, and the audience to whom the particular decision is…

This handbook, designed as a guide for new evaluators in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, provides an orientation to the "Discrepancy Evaluation Model" and a detailed outline of the administrative procedures necessary to conduct day-to-day activities in the first two stages of program evaluation. Guidelines for use during the first stage of…

This study was undertaken to develop a model early warning system which could anticipate job openings generated in local communities by large Federal procurement contracts. Among the major findings from the cases studied: (1) projections of job openings were possible in all contracts considered, by the use of estimating techniques which are…

A model for evaluating an educational program for disadvantaged families (the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, EFNEP) is presented and discussed. The steps in program evaluation are given; these steps are: Rationale; Goals, Intents, Objectives; Antecedents; Transactions; and Outcome. The collection of data is described, and the use…

This federally funded survey, undertaken to develop a model of a decentralized local area manpower information system for meeting program management needs in urban areas, discusses the need for this system, and the origins and uses of manpower data. Characteristics and parameters of such a system, alternative models of information systems, and a…

A PROJECT WAS DESCRIBED THAT WOULD USE SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND COMPUTER SIMULATION TECHNIQUES TO FIND NEW WAYS TO IMPLEMENT INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA. THE FOUR MAJOR STEPS TO BE TAKEN FOR THIS STUDY ARE--(1) SURVEY AND SELECTION OF HIGH SCHOOLS, (2) SYSTEM ANALYSIS OF THE FIVE HIGH SCHOOLS SELECTED FOR STUDY, (3) CONSTRUCTION OF A COMPUTER-SIMULATION…