The web is playing a central role in distance education. The word "usability" is usually synonymous with functionality of the system for the user. Also, usability of a website is defined as something that can be used by a specific group of people to carry out specific objectives in an effective way, with efficiency and satisfaction.…

ICUE (Interactivity Centered Usability Evaluation) is an enhanced usability testing protocol created by the researcher. ICUE augments the facilitator's role for usability testing, and offers strategies in developing and presenting usability tasks during a testing session. ICUE was designed to address weaknesses found in the usability evaluation of…

In the Information Communication Technology era teachers will have to wisely use the online environment in order to realize a new pedagogy. The penetration of the internet and collaborative online instruments to teaching and learning affect the quality of teaching. We have developed a digital indicator to evaluate the quality of the online tasks…

Evaluation reports increasingly document the degree of program implementation, particularly the extent to which programs adhere to prescribed steps and procedures. Many reports are cursory, however, and few, if any, fully portray the long and winding path taken when developing evaluation instruments, particularly observation instruments. In this…

Background: The theories supporting cognitive treatment for depression among individuals with intellectual disability (ID) have not been formally tested with this population. The current study evaluated Becks cognitive theory of depression to determine its appropriateness for adults with ID. Methods: Forty-eight adults with primarily mild or…

The focus of this report is the Direct Instruction Supervision Code, developed to assess the degree of implementation of the Direct Instruction Follow Through Model. Most of this paper deals with the development, reliability, concurrent validity, and criterion-related validity of the code, which is a classroom observation instrument. The report…

The purpose of this document is to establish the minimum standards for approval of programs which meet the requirements of the Standards of Accreditation adopted by the State Board of Education February 22, 1984, and have been effective since June 1, 1987. Included are guidelines, which enable school districts to: (1) Establish equitable criteria…

This article provides the background and describes the processes involved in establishing a national approach to benchmarking the way universities engage with their local and regional communities in Australia. Local and regional community engagement is a rapidly expanding activity in Australian public universities and is increasingly being seen as…

To maintain employer cooperation and support, career educators must evaluate employer contacts and show results in terms employers can understand and value. Includes six possible objectives related to employer contacts and suggests types of evidence relevant for each. (JOW)

This paper examines the extent to which legitimacy affects program continuation, and focuses on the process by which programs attempt to maintain legitimate status through conformity with the larger environment. Legitimacy is defined as cultural support from a program's larger environment, such as the school district or community. An innovative…

This paper presents the methodology developed by the State University System of Florida (SUS) to propose new programs and evaluate their viability prior to approval. Universities must initially request that programs for development be placed on the 5-year strategic plan. Once on the SUS strategic plan, universities may submit proposals following a…

States that the accelerated growth of sport management undergraduate programs that began in the 1980s has continued into the current decade. There are currently 180 sport management major programs in American colleges and universities. Describes the sports management approval process and suggests useful strategies to evaluate sport management…

A research project was initiated by the San Antonio Accreditation program to compare results of overlapping validations made with three instruments: San Antonio's Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS), Dallas Child Care Partnership's Family Day Care Observation Instrument (FDCOI), and the National Association for Family Day Care's (NAFDC)…

The extent to which evaluation research and psychology share some common objectives, methods and aims for validity is examined. The conventional dichotomy drawn between the two disciplines is seen as spurious and misleading to scholars and practitioners in each area. To demonstrate the proposed synergy between the two disciplines, an integrative…

A comprehensive conceptual framework for the validation of educational programs has been proposed. The conceptual framework includes the concept of an educational program as a system of curricular and instructional claims and methods of evaluation which entail a wide range of judgments of both logical validity and factual validity. Judgments of…