The largest college within an online university of over 50,000 students invested significant resources in translating a complex assessment system focused on continuous improvement and national accreditation into an effective and efficient electronic portfolio (ePortfolio). The team building the system needed a model to address problems met…

Problem solving can be thought of in two phases: the first phase is problem formulation and the second solution development. Problem formulation is the process of identifying a problem or opportunity in a situation. Problem Formulation Ability, or PFA, is the ability to perform this process. This research investigated a method to assess PFA and…

This study investigated novel pedagogies for helping teachers infuse inquiry into a standards-based science curriculum. Using a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) as a pedagogical vehicle, teams of middle-school students collaboratively solved problems around disease in a virtual town called River City. The students interacted with "avatars" of…

The major potentials and pitfalls of adversary evaluation in education are discussed. Reasons why the courtroom model may have limited utility, and the difficulties in the debate model are identified. It is argued that the existence of opposing viewpoints is the core of adversary evaluation, not adherence to existing formats for presenting…

What causes students to leave school? According to Azzam (2007), over 47% of students in the United States who drop out of school reported they did so because school was boring and irrelevant to their life situation. What can schools and teachers do to encourage students to stay in school? One possible solution may be to look at experiential…

This guide, designed for teacher use, focuses on the evaluation of environmental education experiences. The guide, which is based on a doctoral study, is structured around three basic evaluation questions: (1) What kinds of environmental education learning experiences can you evaluate?; (2) What outcomes of environmental education learning…

Defines assessment as finding out where the problems are in a program for the purpose of eliminating them. Presents a method for developing a formal assessment plan in history including principles of assessment, program goals, and objectives. Suggests determining what is already done and what further assessment methods are desired. (DK)

Sixteen vocational education evaluation problems which indicate the present situation in the states are discussed, and alternative solutions to them are suggested in this report. Each problem represents a situation that should be remedied or a need that must be met and was found to be common to a number of states attempting to develop or improve…

This document provides information about the development of a quality control procedure that adds a new capability to program management. The procedure, the Standardized Educational Program Audit (SEPA), is being developed by the Florida Department of Education for use with Elementary Secondary Education Act Title III development projects. This…

Discusses the need for researchers to determine what should be tested and how when evaluating educational computing programs, describes efforts of Educational Testing Service's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure the impact of computers on achievement, and concludes that it will not be easy to evaluate computers' effects.…

The bulk of this conference report is made up of three papers. In the first, J. A. Riffel argues that there are two polar orientations to the problem of evaluation in education--the independent empirical and the participatory problem-solving. To date, education has been dominated by the former approach. Only the latter allows for a variety of…

Program administrators for 64 Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) programs in New York City were asked to respond to a questionnaire rating scale concerning the helpfulness and quantity of information that had been provided to them by the program evaluators. The rating scale categorized areas of administrative decision making in five…

This manual is designed for superintendents, principals, teachers, and interested community members who are conducting self-evaluations as prescribed by Ohio Minimum Standards for Elementary and Secondary Schools. Its objective is to provide districts with direction to engage in self-evaluation studies using assessment instruments that promote…

Evaluates the effectiveness of a sixth grade experimental language arts program designed to teach higher-level thinking skills. Reports on different types of instruments for measuring higher-level thinking skills, including verbal and nonverbal tests of divergent thinking, a nonverbal test of flexible thinking, and a verbal divergent production…

A conceptual framework is presented for the development of the Quantitative Understanding: Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning (QUASAR) Cognitive Assessment Instrument (QCAI) that focuses on the ability of middle-school students to problem solve, reason, and communicate mathematically. The instrument will provide programatic rather than…