In 1978 the Springfield, Massachusetts school system began using sociometric techniques to analyze classroom social structure in grades 3-6 in order to provide feedback to teachers and data for evaluating the progress of integration. The sociogram asked students to choose whom they would work with on a school project, eat lunch with, pair up with…

Instructional leadership is the principal's role in providing direction, resources, and support to teachers and students for the improvement of teaching and learning in the school. This handbook reviews factors affecting that role in four broad domains: keeping informed about trends, planning for instructional improvement, implementing…

Four major problem areas inhibit the standardized assessment of critical thinking (CT): (1) content validity; (2) construct validity; (3) technical jargon; and (4) background knowledge. Practical examples of framing multiple-choice items for assessment are suggested. In the area of content validity, new agreement about the definition of CT now…

Assessment is discussed as a formal and overt manifestation of quality control. With some experiences in Swedish nursing education taken as the point of departure, assessment is discussed as: (1) a policy implementation and curriculum problem concerning the interpretation and exercise of programs by those in control; (2) a teacher problem…

As schools move from corporate to collegial forms of organization, it will become necessary to adapt evaluation systems to collegial environments. This paper outlines a system that utilizes features of professional self-regulation from higher education while maintaining dispute resolution mechanisms from the public sector. Features of the system…

In response to the tradition of examining a new test's validity by comparing it with a well-established multiple-choice test, a study investigated whether multiple-choice tests with one right answer can measure the reading comprehension process as defined by constructivists. The study compared the information obtained from two different…

The Title I/Chapter 1 Technical Assistance Centers (TACs) were originally created to provide assistance to state and local education agencies in implementing the Title I evaluation and reporting system. However, over a 10-year period, TAC role has changed significantly. Its service foci have evolved from providing evaluation assistance to helping…

Schools and universities in the United Kingdom are coming to accept performance appraisal as a fact of life. The first part of this paper discusses appraisal policies as "negotiated ambiguities." Ambiguous criteria concerning wording subject to misinterpretation has created reservations on the side of the National Union of Teachers. This…

A study examined the relationship between French teachers' use of behavior alteration techniques in the classroom, and the perceptions of individuals evaluating the teacher (students, peers, administrators) on the quality of instructional performance. Junior and community college French students, language teachers, and administrators responded to…

Camping Out is an outdoor education program designed to meet the needs of hearing-impaired, mentally retarded children. The program aims to help children overcome language deficits and restrictions of their limited environments while learning recreation skills which can enhance their motor, cognitive, and affective skills. The program covers seven…

Designed to assist providers of community-based employment training programs in the assessment of their efforts, this manual provides a conceptual framework and practical advice for planning and carrying out locally directed evaluations. After section I explains the purpose of the manual, section II presents a planning guide that establishes…

The survey of all 50 state departments of education (and the District of Columbia examined nondiscriminatory evaluation policy. The examination of state policy documents included both an analysis of regulatory language and implementation procedures. State adherence to Public Law 94-142 Protection in Evaluation Procedures (PEP) and the development…

This document describes the beginning of the North Carolina certification program for student services personnel. The goal of student services as helping to maximize effective learning is described. The manner in which school counseling, school psychology, and school social work fit into this conceptual framework is discussed. The initial…

This document provides information about Science Unlimited (SU), the elementary school science effort of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. (The philosophy and characteristics of SU continue the earlier Pennsylvania science program effort entitled Investigative Science in Elementary Education.) The document includes: (1) a list of SU…

The guide describes how committee hearings can be used in an educational as well as a political context. A committee hearing approach can be used in education (1) when a committee suited to carry out the evaluation task already exists; (2) when a written report is likely to be ignored or to have minimal effect; (3) when the decision-maker or…