This paper reports on a 1992 study of mathematics-assessment data by measuring key instructional resources and practices and by investigating the ways in which the resources and practices affect student learning in a multilayered, complex school system. The study examined research methods that assess the effectiveness of instructional resource…

Formative evaluation is an evaluation done with the intention of identifying potential for improvement. This handbook provides techniques and ideas for discovering how students are learning and how much students are learning from their experiences in the classroom. Surveys, questionnaires, observations, class discussions, journals, and…

This paper on entrepreneurial education compares positions in three national debates. It identifies different ways that formal and informal texts define entrepreneurial education and gives rationales for it--in comprehensive schools or K-12 education--in different contexts. The study was guided by three questions: (1) What is understood by…

This paper reports on Oregon's Database Initiative Project (DIP). In response to inconsistent financial reports and a lack of automation, a project team was assembled by Oregon's Department of Education in 1997 with the goal of providing detailed school-level data for the 1997-98 school year in 16 Oregonian school districts. Among the project's…

This paper provides local educators and policy makers with information about educational indicators and their use. It opens by briefly tracing the history of the educational indicators movement in the United States and then addresses four critical issues or questions about indicators and their use: What is an indicator and an indicator system? How…

This paper claims that transfer is increasing in popularity among community college students due to a re-emphasis of importance by community college administrators, more convenient transfer policies and procedures, and beneficial credit transfer. Research for this position was conducted at Tulsa Community College (Oklahoma). The research included…

Disucusses the advantages of using the case method in science curricula, involving its definition, classification, and objectives. Indicates that case studies could contribute to the involvement of social and economic aspects in science learning. Included is a description of the 1972 trial study on the value of the case approach. (CC)

Proposes school evaluation in terms of the learning environment a school provides rather than the achievement of its students. (HD)

The Educational Quality Assessment and Assurance System for continuing education in health sciences includes three components to measure inputs, processes, and outcomes. They are (1) Program Coordinator Competency List, (2) Quality Assessment and Assurance Program, and (3) evaluation of educational programs. (SK)

A survey of principals and second- and fifth-grade teachers in 25 Puerto Rican schools reveals that (1) they value and use reading tests; (2) province and district-wide reading assessments primarily affect curriculum decisions; (3) the generally accepted goals of testing programs are being met; and (4) their attitudes are similar to educators…

Risk arises from foreign competitors and our educational mediocrity. Nevertheless, causes for optimism exist in the commission's recommendations on curriculum content, standards and expectations, school time, teaching, leadership, and fiscal support. Neglected themes of the commission's report include lifelong learning and compatibility of…

Discusses how evaluation can aid both in countering the current negative perception of the foreign language profession and in returning control of the future direction of foreign language study to the hands of professional educators. (EKN)

Discusses guidance programs in rural schools, suggesting basic functions of guidance programs, such as career development and resources, communication with community, educational planning and assessment, counseling, and follow-up. (AH)

Political education in Canada remains, for the most part, in the mould of traditional civics. Textbooks concentrate on legal-historical descriptions of government institutions. Students learn about politics through history or social studies courses which promote nationalism rather than political efficacy or literacy. Most teachers lack training in…

Describes the creation and objectives of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and reviews the findings of an evaluation of the NAEP, published in "Measuring the Quality of Education," by Wirtz and Lapointe. Focuses on the role that the NAEP can play in establishing uniform, national educational standards. (GC)