NCATE (2002) requires the measurement of knowledge, skills, and dispositions as part of its accreditation requirements for teacher education programs (Standard 1) and the use of unit assessment systems to aggregate and analyse data with a view toward program improvement (Standard 2). Data must indicate that candidates meet professional, state, and…

Describes the Instructional Quality Inventory (IQI) for formative evaluation of systematically developed instructional programs, its classification scheme for objectives and test items, and procedures for checking programs for adequacy, consistency and presentation. Accounts of two studies are given to support the usefulness of the IQI. (EAO)

Describes a four phase strategy used to identify, critique and improve an existing student services program consisting of collecting information, exchanging information among service units and faculty, publishing a student services handbook, and evaluating existing service effectiveness. (Author/JAC)

The problems of co-op education programs, analyzed from an administrative point of view, focused on apathy in business and among students, lack of program growth and poor image, poor administrator skills, and neglect of programs. Suggestions are offered on using marketing tests and strategies to improve programs. (Author/KMF)

The organization of monitoring and evaluation of public sector programs in South Asia is described, and the ways in which information from the studies is actually used are discussed. Reasons why there has been so little interest in evaluating the performance and maintenance of public sector programs are considered. (SLD)

Discusses the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Head Start Quality and Expansion that will conduct an in-depth study to make recommendations on how to ensure that all Head Start programs provide high-quality services. Examines legislation having an impact on Head Start programs, including efforts to reduce the federal budget. (TJQ)

Investigated use of standardized questionnaires to establish organizational characteristics of group day-care providers in self-assessments. Examined processes by which nurseries instigate group discussing of self-assessment procedures, establish priorities for change, develop action plans, and implement change. Identified several suitable…

The emerging field of knowledge management offers academic libraries the opportunity to improve effectiveness, both for themselves and their parent institutions. This article summarizes knowledge management theory. Current applications in academic libraries and higher education are described. Similarities and difficulties between knowledge…

The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is presented as a model for business and education collaboration to develop technical degree programs for producing more and better technicians. The new roles of industry and college leaders are discussed through a synthesis of literature on skill…

Until the past few years, our nation's approach to designing federal programs for preschool-age children lacked coherence and paid little attention to what had worked (and not worked) in the past. In this article, the authors propose that credible information useful for designing effective programs will require the ongoing, systematic development…

The Department of Education hosted a rare "technical training" for State correctional education directors and data managers this spring titled "Making Data Work for You." Forty-eight States participated. This was a welcome opportunity for face-to-face contact with correctional education administrators from across the U.S. More…

As administrative preparation programs ground strategies for developing new genres of school leaders in transformational and democratic communities, of particular interest are the instructional and programmatic strategies that contribute to successful program outcomes. Constructed over time, this article highlights the specific contribution of…

Linking teacher practice to pupil outcomes has proven challenging for teacher educators. Methodological problems occur when linking individual teacher actions with subsequent pupil performance, including substantial intervening variables, questions about appropriate measures of student learning, issues regarding the lack of test standardization…

Purpose: As funds have increased for the provision of in-home care, so too have concerns about the quality of services. In response, care management agencies and home-care providers have developed an array of monitoring activities designed to ensure the quality of services. In this article, we show how an area agency on aging both collected and…

In a series of New Jersey Supreme Court decisions known as Abbott v. Burke, the 28 (now 31) urban school districts serving the state's poorest students were ordered to create systems of high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-old children, beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. The Abbott Preschool Program now serves approximately…