The problems and opportunities for institutional research in academe as it becomes increasingly policy analytic in activity and orientation are explored. It is suggested that for the 1980s the most viable and dynamic role for institutional research will be in providing leaders in higher education institutions with policy-relevant knowledge in…

Individual standardized test scores in major school subjects can be combined to evaluate school programs and systems. Recently, Sweden experimented with such a practice. Test scores in different subjects (Swedish, English, mathematics) were gathered, units of different size (schools, municipalities, regions) were compared, and inter-school…

Effective instructional management processes come in many guises, but all share four essential components: (1) a set of educational goals toward which progress can be measured; (2) a means of assessing students' instructional needs and determining placement and grouping; (3) an organizational structure and instructional delivery process capable of…

A framework for examining the future development of the community college and specific policy and program proposals is provided by the 13 essays in this collection. Part one, "The Community College in Perspective," includes "The Evolution of Two-Year Colleges Through Four Generations," by Dale Tillery and William L. Deegan; and "Determining…

Defining practical significance in program evaluations is a difficult measurement problem which can only be solved by an intimate familiarity with the measures on which effects are estimated and their content relationship to the program goals. Past attempts to provide general solutions to the size of effect problem have relied on standardized…

A survey was conducted at Indiana University-Bloomington to provide (1) normative data for identifying common adjustment problems of the first enrollment experience of 265 of the Educational Opportunity Program (GROUPS) students, and (2) student evaluations of potential areas of the program that need administrative attention and/or redesigning. a…

The focus of this study was to assess the 17-year-olds' ability to read functional reading tasks and to provide change if and where needed. This was a project between the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin High Schools (MFHS) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the area of reading. Two hundred fourteen 17-year-olds were randomly…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 28 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) a method of individually appraising the precursory skills of beginning readers; (2) the effects of instructing third grade students in interpretive reading…

This packet is the third of five developed as a set of self-appraisal instruments with which teachers (and others) can systematically examine their instruction methods in communication skills. The packet contains forms for teachers, students, administrators, and parents addressing two levels of specificity: responses to the overall communication…

Results of an evaluation of the South Dakota Project to Articulate Continuing Education in Nursing (Project SPACE), which was the extent to which the three-year project had been a value to South Dakota nurses, were presented. According to the Executive Committee's assessment, the project increased quantity and quality of continuing education…

Objectives in five preschool program areas are listed in a format suitable for self-evaluation of program activities. With these resource materials, center staff and involved parents can document and assess their program with regard to (1) the quality of adult attention to children, (2) staff relationships, (3) parent participation, (4) staff…

Adult participation at the Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC) of the State University of New York at Buffalo is described in this paper. Five different programs serving families with infants, toddlers, and children 3 and 4 years old are briefly described to illustrate the complexity of program coordination at ECRC. The roles of staff teaching,…

An example of a comprehensive mechanism for obtaining specific evaluative data related to teacher education programs is presented. This Supervising Teacher's Program Evaluation Form was devised to gather data from cooperating teachers in three areas: (1) the adequacy of the student teacher's training; (2) the adequacy of the university…

The problem of a perceived decline in secondary school students' reading comprehension and the efforts of one high school English department head to address that problem are described in this paper. The first section of the paper presents an extensive documentation of the decline in reading comprehension and of reactions by state and local…

A result of close cooperation between librarians at the Undergraduate Library and the English faculty, the program described in this report involves the integration of library instruction with freshmen English courses at the University of Texas at Austin. The formulation of goals for this program, through which over 5,000 students each year are…