Reviews research on principals' behavior and research differentiating between more and less effective principals. Traces potential policy implications in the areas of program implementation, principal selection, preservice and inservice training, and district level organization and management. (RH)

Responds to a call for proof of the effectiveness of the basic writing program at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, and documents a marked increase in the success rate of basic writers after the program had shifted from a traditional product centered course to a process course. (RS)

Department of Education issuance of reports on the status of 10 states' court-ordered college desegregation without any evaluation of the states' efforts has disappointed civil-rights activists. The unexpected release of the reports was due in part to the threat of Congressional subpoena of the information. (MSE)

Describes the efforts of the language arts staff of the Edmonton (Canada) Public Schools to develop statements of student outcomes that were generalizable across grade levels and tests of writing achievement based on those outcomes. (FL)

This overview of educational evaluation in the Netherlands provides background and details the state of the art in student, curriculum, and innovation evaluation. The role of international evaluation issues (such as evaluation criteria and the decision-making process) in evaluation theory and practice in The Netherlands is discussed. (BS)

This case study of the Early Childhood Education Program (California) focuses on the political meaning of evaluation. It shows how analysis of evaluation politics reveals who controls education policy, which values are prevailing and dominant, and which definitions of policy goals constitute the assumptive world. (RDN)

Discusses the need for high school co-operative education courses to give students chances to make sense of work in ways that will help them do their best in their future jobs. Involves effective use of in-school time to enable students to identify particular questions about working and about themselves as workers. (Author/ABB)

Point of entry problems are faced by evaluators when asked to start an evaluation at an inappropriate time or to perform an inappropriate study. The fundamental purpose of evaluation is to help improve services. Guidelines are presented for choosing when to do a context, input, process, or product evaluation. (GDC)

Elementary school principals rated attitudes and behaviors concerning the utilization of student achievement data: (1) commitment to influencing student achievement; (2) control in utilizing student achievement data; (3) use of data to evaluate programs and teachers; (4) effectiveness and accountability in use of data; and (5) principals' own…

This paper reports past performance data for document delivery services provided by two libraries at University of Minnesota (Walter Library, Institute of Technology Libraries) and results of survey of faculty served by these services. Differences between users and nonusers, reasons for nonuse, and correlates of extent of use are discussed. (EJS)

To help foreign students adjust to academic environment, the University of California-Davis Library developed a personalized instructional program (small groups, "on call" service) with a dual emphasis: teaching international students how to find and use library information; educating library staff to recognize/understand the special…

Based on questionnaires collected from 1980 to mid-1984, this study evaluates user satisfaction with online reference services at Northern Illinois University Library. Highlights include frequency of databases searched, relevance of references, search value, defining and measuring information needs, and suggestions for improvement of service and…

A study found that there is a significant difference in student achievement when teaching farm management and agricultural marketing concepts and problem solving with microcomputer-assisted instruction as compared to the lecture-discussion teaching method; and that there is little difference in achievement when comparing teachers' knowledge and…

Higher education must recognize and express its concern about a growing trend for the federal government to award funds for projects but bypass the peer review process, favoring established scholars or elite institutions and undermining the competitive process. Self-restraint within higher education and adequate funding for peer review projects…

The use of graduate students in the behavioral sciences to supervise undergraduate research is a viable approach. To be successful such a program must involve well prepared and highly motivated graduate and undergraduate students, and there must be a congenial and open relationship between the two. (RM)