The educational assessment movement holds considerable promise for encouraging college faculty to exercise collective responsibility to improve the quality of learning. Current efforts toward improving higher education include the Association of American Colleges' report, "Integrity in the College Curriculum"; William J. Bennett's…

Acknowledging that, although a survey of educational offerings in Norway reveals courses in theater, mass media, and speech therapy, the curriculum does not contain oral communication courses per se, such as those found in the United States, this article compares how and why general education systems and speech education have developed differently…

An outcomes study for Eastern New Mexico University is proposed that would track every third freshman class from the time of arrival until about 3 years after leaving the university. After contact with the new freshmen, the contact again occurs at the end of the sophomore year and at the time of graduation. Students who do not return will be…

Three papers and a sample outline of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) represent the work of the Monitoring and Improving Testing and Evaluation Innovations (MITEI) Project during 1988. The skeleton of a sample RFP outline for large-scale assessment was expanded to provide a checklist of the type of information that should be included in a RFP. The…

Standardized testing of American students provides comparative scores for the placement of individual students, enables students to make appropriate decisions regarding a future course of study, and offers the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of teachers, schools, and school districts. As a result of using standardized test scores for…

The application of a cost-effect analysis strategy to the delivery of vocational education services by California's Regional Occupational Centers and Programs (ROC/Ps) was investigated. Data representing both program costs (revenues and expenditures) and outcomes (student completions and placements) were collected from a statewide sample…

The influences within the Ontario educational system perceived by teachers, department heads, and principals as affecting their evaluation policies and practices were studied. Interviews were conducted in the 1987-88 school year as part of the Ecology of Evaluation research project conducted in Ontario and British Columbia. About 50 elementary and…

Studies of teacher use of tests suggest that classroom tests are widely used and standardized test results are rarely used. Previous comparisons of preservice and inservice teachers' attitudes toward assessment suggest few differences. Differences in opinions about the use of classroom and standardized tests were assessed via surveys of three…

This report presents the results of the evaluation of the 1988-89 Comprehensive Instructional Management Systems-Communication Arts (CIMS-CA) program, which focused on developing a holistic communication arts curriculum and staff development program reflecting the most recent research for students in kindergarten through eighth grade;…

A profile of state-wide educational assessment programs is constructed, and the means by which such programs have changed over time and may change in the future are discussed. Data for the study were taken from biennial surveys by the Association of State Assessment Programs, first conducted in 1977. This study covers data on time of survey…

Evaluation of freshman English programs is a process involving recursive steps, such as planning which elements to review, securing resources to carry out the review, actually reviewing the planned elements, and providing written reports to decision-makers. The four elements of an educational program--contexts, input, process, and product--cohere…

This report examines parent-involvement programs that focus on Hispanic families and the methods that have been used to evaluate these programs. The survey involved 10 Hispanic parent-involvement programs named by various state education agency directors as being significant. Particular attention was given to whether or not the programs were…

The gap-reduction model has been identified as a potential alternative to or extension of the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS). The gap-reduction model has been recommended for the evaluation of bilingual programs, but has only recently been given consideration for evaluating local Chapter 1 programs. This report recommends that…

The validity of educational tests used as critical measures of educational outcomes within a dynamic system is discussed. Validity becomes a problem if an educational system adapts itself to the characteristics of the outcome measures. The concept of systematically valid tests is introduced; these tests induce curricular and instructional changes…

The role of technology and the measurement of educational progress are discussed, with an emphasis on the development of school report cards. Comments are made from the perspectives of (1) a member of a university community and (2) a researcher in evaluation and measurement. Efforts to formulate school report cards in Florida, California, and…