A well-planned and well-conducted evaluation can provide useful information to funding agencies, sponsoring institutions, instructors, and participants. Evaluating an instructional program, such as a workshop or institute, involves collecting, organizing, analyzing, and reporting data about several features of the program and its impact on the…

This paper describes the conceptual model of retention used as the framework for research on institutional effectiveness at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP). First, an overview of the literature on student attrition is presented, followed by a specific review of research based on Tinto's model of student attrition. This model maintains…

This monograph is designed to acquaint classroom teachers with the language proficiency guidelines of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the oral testing guidelines of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The guidelines are intended for language proficiency assessment by the oral interview technique. Designated…

Information on identifying handicapped children was collected and analyzed, in order to evaluate Illinois-required case study components and assessment procedures. A literature review chapter discusses assessment of health, academic status, and individual strengths/weaknesses, and provides summaries of best practices. In regard to method, a survey…

The writing assessment used in grade 10 of the Cherry Creek, (Colorado) schools is described. Over the past 3 years, the focus of the assessment has changed from an assessment heavily weighted on multiple-choice items, with minimal constructed response tasks, to an assessment based entirely on a written product. Students are provided with multiple…

The Management Assessment Center (MAC) of the Dade County (Florida) Public Schools is a unique project, employing multiple techniques to evaluate behavior for school-level administrator personnel selection. This final report of an evaluation deals primarily with issues of the validity and the utility of the MAC. To ascertain validity of the MAC,…

Detailed qualitative case studies of four early childhood special education programs, representing a variety of approaches to decision making as well as different community settings (urban, suburban, and rural), present information regarding their diagnostic assessment procedures. In general, programs reported that the main objective of diagnostic…

Relevant policy issues for early childhood special education (ECSE) programs to consider in the areas of exit decision making and follow-up procedures are identified in this report. These issues were generated through extensive naturalistic case studies of four ECSE programs located in urban, suburban, and rural communities and were selected to…

The Cayuga-Onondaga Assessment for Children with Handicaps (COACH) is an assessment and planning tool designed to assist in the development of relevant educational programs delivered in integrated settings. The tool provides methods to determine a student's top learning priorities from a family-focused perspective, translate priorities into goals,…

Community colleges are recognized today as critical links between high schools and four-year colleges. This paper presents a research model for understanding the transfer function and transfer performance at the level of the college. The model discusses the community college in terms of its capacity for institutionalizing functions and its overall…

This document reports Stage 1 of a study of quality assurance in nonadvanced further education in England and Wales. Stage 1 involved: (1) an assessment of the influence of external agencies and national examining bodies via a review of published documents and interviews with key personnel; (2) an exploration of the expectations and perceptions of…

Guidelines and resources for conducting a faculty evaluation were developed based on an evaluation project at Irvine Valley College (California). In the fall of 1989, eight instructors participated in a pilot test of evaluation through observation by two peers and the collection of rating forms completed by students. Participants also completed…

Forty-one readings are presented on the social ecology variables and interventions that characterize the life of persons with disabilities. The readings are grouped into six categories dealing respectively with background, assessment of student-centered variables, interventions relating to student-centered variables, program-centered variables,…

This guide aims to help rehabilitation facilities develop effective self-evaluation systems to improve quality assurance for supported employment. The guide proposes that quality be measured by emphasizing direct outcomes that meet consumers' specified needs and concerns in terms of decision making, determination of quality, and access to choice.…

Based on a successful project in Nebraska, this manual was developed for use in establishing a structured all-volunteer adult basic education (ABE) program in small communities or satellite locations. The greater part of the manual covers the various steps a volunteer leader should follow to establish this kind of program, beginning with a section…