In the early 1970s educational evaluation's fusion of respect for rationality, power to implement rational procedure, and an altruistic objective (improved instruction) appealed to educational researchers. Dealing essentially with closed systems, it measured program success by student performance on measurement instruments. Critics exclaimed that…

The first step of this presentation, directed to school board members, is the recommendation of two publications on assessing school programs. The second step is to invite board members to make an indepth study of ninth grade algebra in order to get acquainted with the problem. The third stage of this presentation is to examine some alterable…

This report describes a needs survey administered at the first National Bilingual Education Management Institute. The purpose of the survey was to discover the major needs for evaluation training in bilingual programs. The survey dealt with the following areas of concern: identification of evaluation topics that would be useful and of interest to…

The Pennsylvania School Improvement Program (PSIP) was created to assist local schools and school districts in the development of curriculum improvement strategies. The process involves the use of "linkers," curriculum specialists who work with teams from the local level to ascertain needs, then connect the local teams with the research…

This document contains 99 exercises from the 1971-72 social studies assessment. The intended audience is researchers who need detailed information about the exercises and state and local educators who want to use the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exercises in their own assessment programs. The document includes a copy of the…

A process called focused holistic scoring has been developed for use in the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills to assess student performance on writing samples. This process is "holistic" because it evaluates a total piece of writing, and it is "focused" because it evaluates the writing in terms of two specific objectives…

Focusing on the problems of assessing the speaking skills of secondary school students, this paper provides one example of how those problems were addressed in the Massachusetts speaking assessment. The paper identifies four requirements for measures of speaking skills: (1) feasibility, (2) reliability, (3) validity, and (4) freedom from bias. The…

Results of a survey of 180 community and junior colleges indicate that community college language programs continue to be largely connected with the transfer curriculum, and that their enrollments have declined in part as a consequence of the widespread erosion of language requirements among the B.A.-granting institutions to which community…

This local assessment identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the science program at El Paso Community College and uses these findings to make recommendations for long-range planning for the science program. Four types of questionnaires were developed: one for students, one for institutional-occupational program directors, one for science…

The current state of middle grade schools in Vermont and New Hampshire was examined by a questionnaire survey of sixteen middle grade schools in Vermont and 33 in New Hampshire. Middle grade schools were defined as those serving between three and five grade levels, including grades six and seven. Information gathered from each school included:…

The purpose of this competency-based education program is to help interested school districts implement, manage, and evaluate a comprehensive program at the high school level. The final report discusses the definition and collection of selective practices that have potential for further use; targeted development activities, including planning and…

In conjunction with the Educational Testing Service and the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, Greenfield Community College involved students and faculty in an institutional goals inventory designed to identify discrepancies between "what is" and "what should be." The study addressed two types of…

Designed to be used by preservice and in-service science teachers interested in assessing the outcomes of school science programs, this publication is aimed at helping teachers do a better job of developing tests and inventories specifically for their instructional programs and students. Material is presented in six chapters entitled: (1) Trends…

This report examines the impact and effectiveness of an educational program (Discovery Corners) offered by the National Museum of History and Technology. The main objective is to offer feedback to museum personnel regarding the impact of museum exhibits and programs. The Discovery Corners program involves on-site presentations and demonstrations…

The following papers relevant to second language instruction are compiled here: (1) "The Three Most Critical Issues in Foreign-Language Education Today," by Lorraine A. Strasheim; (2) "A Bird's Eye View of Bilingualism in Canada," by Chavarche Tchalekian; (3) "'...To Educate the Multi-Faceted and Harmoniously Developed…