The Dallas School Accountability Program is described, and a step-by-step method for determining how well a school performs relative to other schools is presented. The Dallas program is a two-part program. Beginning with criterion-based improvement plans, goal levels are set by determining the discrepancy between the actual and desired levels of…

This student guide for courses for health care assistants and nurse assistants contains 16 self-paced units with simplified line drawings, controlled text, vocabulary development, and mathematics practice exercises. Units consist of the following: objectives, introduction to the unit, content outline, steps of the procedure, skill sheets, written…

Traditional assessments in university courses led students to seek goals that current research reports as unacceptable since success had been based on knowledge acquisition rather than performance or ability to use this information in authentic situations. Assessment must require the performance of exemplary tasks. The purpose of this project was…

A study determined the viability and effectiveness of the Computerized Competent Speaker Evaluation System. A total of 659 comments made by undergraduate students about the paper version of the Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form were subjected to two Q sorts. The 635 comments that emerged were incorporated into the evaluation system during…

This handbook provides valuable information for educators to use in developing a one-semester high school course on economics. The volume includes activity outlines, a model for assessment, and a list of resources to enhance instruction in economics. The handbook identifies methods to enrich instruction using the state-mandated economic component…

This paper offers concrete examples from recent policy research about how qualitative and quantitative methods can be combined to better address research questions. Using a conceptual framework developed by Rossman and Wilson (1985), later expanded by Greene, Caracelli, and Graham (1989), the paper discusses how the design and analysis phases of…

The 1992-93 analysis of the Kansas Chapter 1 evaluation results is described. In the 1992-93 school year, 100 percent (304) of Kansas districts participated in the Chapter 1 program. Approximately 7 percent of the student population participated in Chapter 1 programs, and 82 percent were in grades 1 through 6. A majority of these students were…

One of the goals of the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993 is to expand the use of technology in Missouri's public schools by authorizing grants to help in the acquisition of new technology and by earmarking funds for professional development activities. The aim of this guide is to assist school districts that are in various stages of providing…

This guide for college teachers, written from a British perspective, focuses on economic and efficient practices for assessing students. The guide groups various practices under 10 major strategies: (1) decide whose interests assessment is serving; (2) avoid over-sampling the course; (3) avoid over-questioning; (4) avoid over-reading student work;…

Dealing with issues related to the assessment of community college accountability, effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, student outcomes, and quality improvement, this volume examines the practical considerations of assessment from the perspectives of state-level coordinating boards, accreditation agencies, college presidents, and…

This is volume three of a six-volume guide to the establishment and management of a comprehensive family-support program. This volume explains the role played by evaluation in the evolution of family-support and family-education services, introduces key aspects and important considerations in planning an evaluation, and discusses how to choose a…

This handbook provides guidelines for designing evaluation materials and for conducting the evaluation of workplace training programs. It includes a variety of evaluation instruments, which are described briefly in the introduction and explained in more detail in the remainder of the handbook. These evaluation instruments are included: employee…

This guide is intended to help school districts and individual schools design and implement outcomes-based accountability systems that include students with disabilities. Part 1 provides an overview of issues that must be considered in developing such a system. Part 2 suggests implementation options and strategies and likely implications of these…

Anecdotal evidence from teachers who teach in bilingual or second language settings indicates that there is a potential for loss of subject matter. This loss is particularly troubling within the context of science learning. This article reviews several projects aimed at developing an understanding of the implications of bilingual instruction in…

This paper presents the results of a 3-year study that examined the efficacy of using the National Association for the Education of Young Children's (NAEYC) "Developmentally Appropriate Practices" (DAP) guidebook for assessment purposes. It surveyed 49 kindergarten and primary grade teachers and 123 graduate education students enrolled in early…