The field of educational leadership faces serious challenges in the 21st century, such as the shortage of principals and superintendents, the growing demands for leadership positions, and the struggle for adequate resources. This paper explores the challenges facing this field from the position of university educational leadership preparation. The…

There is plentiful discussion about the importance of accountability, but much needs to be done to translate it into a manageable and credible system of ongoing feedback. In this book, evaluative inquiry is used in a way that balances attention between the investigation process and its purpose. The book is divided into three parts. Following an…

This article discusses health fraud in special education. Psychopathology of health fraud, standards by which pseudoscience and quackery are defined, and the complexities of learning disorders are considered. A scale to determine whether an alternative therapy is reasonable is presented. Several popular therapies are used as examples. (Author/PB)

PEECH (Programing for Early Education of Children with Handicaps) is a center-based program combining child-initiated and teacher-directed activities for children with mild to moderate disabilities, ages 3-5. Results of an evaluative study at the demonstration site and replication sites revealed participants' improvement in receptive and…

This paper argues that many social validity processes in applied behavior analysis are actually measuring consumer satisfaction and not the habilitative validity of goals, procedures, or outcomes. The term "habilitative validation" is proposed to replace social validity, and use of more objective assessment methods is encouraged.…

The National Study of Living-Learning Programs (NSLLP) survey instrument was designed to assess college environments and student learning and development outcomes associated with participation in living-learning programs. Data from the NSLLP show that students in living-learning programs demonstrate higher self-reported engagement and outcomes…

An overview of accountability in public education is presented in this publication. Contents include a review of recent accountability efforts, an outline of a comprehensive accountability model, an analysis of accountability strategies, and a discussion of means for incorporating system indicators into the larger systemic framework. A conclusion…

Three studies identifying the characteristics of program submittals approved by the Joint Dissemintion Review Panel were examined. Between 1978-1985, 358 demonstration programs were submitted. For each of these years, between 51 percent and 83 percent of the submittals were approved. In this study, the submittals were reviewed on the basis of the…

Explores the idea of quality, what it means to educators (student affairs professionals in particular), and the role assessment plays in measuring quality. Examines how assessment is used within Total Quality Management to measure quality from a customer perspective; compares such assessments to traditional evaluative methods. (RJM)

Citing the signaling and charged use distinction, examines federal expectations and need for evaluation data and extent of local capabilities to meet those expectations when secondary/transition model demonstration projects, funded by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, were obligated to improve amount, quality, and use of…

In this article, a new method is presented and implemented for deriving a scale of socioeconomic status (SES) from international survey data using a multilevel Bayesian item response theory (IRT) model. The proposed model incorporates both international anchor items and nation-specific items and is able to (a) produce student family SES scores…

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contracts with state approving agencies (SAAs) to assess whether schools and training programs offer education of sufficient quality for veterans to receive VA education assistance benefits when attending them. The General Accounting Office examined the gatekeeping activities of the VA and the Department of…

The purpose of the study described here was to determine if Project School to Work, which involved funding (through Title IV of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) a team of facilitators to help a consortium of schools plan and implement career education programs, could be replicated. Three things were looked at: (1) what had taken…

A study was conducted to validate the Oklahoma Curriculum & Instructional Materials Center's (CIMC) Distributive Education II curriculum manual. Participating teachers included sixteen teachers who attended a workshop for training in the use of the curriculum. Arrangements were made to obtain pretest and posttest results from their students on…

The purpose of this monograph is to assist project personnel in improving and measuring the effectiveness of vocational education demonstration projects. The first of four chapters discusses how the monograph is organized and why and how it was developed. Chapter 2 presents an evaluation model containing criteria, standards, and documentation…