Since the inception of the School-to-Work Project in 1998, networks members have increasingly viewed credible evidence as critical to both their approaches to program improvement and their strategies for winning and sustaining support and resources. This issue brief: (1) Describes the activities Network members have pursued together during…

This report presents results of a series of studies documenting current practices in the evaluation of gifted programs and investigating the factors which make evaluation more useful to decision-makers. The investigation involved establishing several databases containing three kinds of information: (1) abstracts of articles relating to evaluation…

Conditions influencing conduct and impact of state-level program evaluation are explored. A model is offered as a guide for assessing conduct and impact, and its use is demonstrated by a case study contrasting the approaches of two states examining an issue raised by the Federal Health Care Financing Agency. (SLD)

Describes the development of an instrument for evaluating building-level school library media programs based on "Information Power," the American Association of School Libraries' guidelines for such programs. Data collection at an Oklahoma teleconference is described, the use of factor analysis is explained, construct validity is…

Focuses on effective data gathering in school libraries. Discusses the connection between program goals and statistical information; budget data; using spreadsheets to track and compare costs; circulation data and trends; copyright assessment of materials; material-quality evaluation; lab usage data; computer information; data on services and…

The naturalistic research perspective assumes that reality is multiplistic, phenomenological, and context-dependent. This perspective legitimizes the subjective insights of the investigator by acknowledging the interdependence of facts and values as well as of the investigator and the object of investigation. Although discrepancies between…

This evaluation report describes the process by which a large, urban-suburban school system evaluated its vocational education program and the results of the evaluation. The evaluation was built upon a set of broad evaluation questions addressing two components of the vocational-technical program: (1) questions related to employer needs and…

The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is one of several structured, small group approaches that can be used in the evaluation process. It has most often been used in needs assessment, to generate categories of potential need and/or alternative solutions to perceived specific problems. The process is based on a set of rules and uses silent idea…

This study was an attempt to examine the effects of experiential group training on populations that differ on various dimensions. (Author/RK)

Author presented a six-point model for purposes of diagnosing program success or lack of success. (Editor/RK)

Conventional methods of evaluating schools are inadequate, say these authors. In this article, they suggest a program for collecting data that would help diagnose and prescribe for the development of better school programs, rather than merely describe a school's present state. (Editor)

The methods used in the Teacher Corps Program Evaluation are based principally on the importance of securing the cooperation of local participants during data collection. Several principles concerning local cooperation were established and explained. These included encouraging active participation, encouraging local review of instruments,…

Significant questions are addressed in an extensive discussion of the differences between qualitative and quantitative concepts and measurement strategies in the physical sciences. Also included is a discussion of number-generating activities often grouped in the social sciences under the term of measurement. Implications for the redirection of…

The objectives of this study were to collect general background information from all persons who had received degrees through Indiana University at South Bend's Division of Education during the years 1967-72 and to obtain an evaluation of the division's teacher education program from these same persons. The teacher education program consisted of…