Norm-referenced tests yield information regarding a student's performance in comparison to a norm or average of performance by similar students. Norms are statistics that describe the test performance of a well-defined population. The process of constructing norms, called norming, is explored briefly in this paper. Some of the most widely reported…

This paper proposes a model to establish which criteria are considered by stakeholders as valid for evaluating a program. The model is developed with the aim of increasing the credibility and use of evaluations. Stakeholders are involved in the identification of potential evaluation criteria, and ratings of validity and priority are used as the…

This book offers a comprehensive guide to evaluation as applied to management development. Part I (Chapters 1-2) discusses the following: what management is; the role of training, development, and education of managers; the purposes of evaluation (proving, improving, learning, controlling); and approaches to evaluation. Part II (Chapters 3-6)…

An approach to research that was conceptualized with the idea of replicating one study in dozens of locations simultaneously is described, focusing on two research projects with simultaneous replication. In 1988 researchers in 85 locations collected data in 276 schools as part of the Phi Delta Kappa Study of Schools At Risk. In 1982, data were…

This guide is intended for use by teachers and administrators in elementary and secondary education school systems to help them evaluate their school programs. It provides basic program evaluation principles to aid educators in planning and conducting evaluations of school programs. The guide explores the five tasks of school program evaluation.…

Many directors of college recreational programs are feeling pressure for increased accountability in the face of shrinking financial resources and increased demand for services. One method of providing that accountability and learning about the strengths and weaknesses of services offered is by assessing the level of client satisfaction. Developed…

Since 1971 the South Carolina Department of Education has collected data on school dropouts. However, the system did not reconcile the number of students who drop out repeatedly, leave for the summer, re-enroll in the following school year, or move to other educational programs. The new data collection system accumulates more accurate data and…

The normal curve has long been important in statistics. Most interval variables yield normal or quasi-normal distributions when data are collected from large samples, and the normal "Z" distribution is also used as a test statistic (e.g., to test differences between two means when sample size is large, since "t" approaches…

This directory contains instructions for using the advanced notification form designed to help identify migrant interstate children as they move between states. The form contains spaces for entering information about the children in the migrant family including each child's date of birth, last school name, grade level, and Migrant Education Record…

This monograph for institutional researchers on questionnaire survey research aims to be both a guide to the basic steps of survey research and a useful reference tool. The monograph is in an informal, question and answer format and organized around the various steps of the survey research process. Chapter I discusses planning the survey including…

In May of 1992, the Alliance for Curriculum Reform (ACR) surveyed member organizations and others who had participated in ACR activities concerning their printed policies on issues relating to multicultural education. The areas of interest for the survey were: printed policy(ies) on multicultural content/curriculum; printed policy(ies) on student…

To code and analyze research data on videotape, a methodology is needed that allows the researcher to code directly and then analyze the observed degree of intensity of the observed events. The establishment of such a methodology is the next logical step in the development of the use of video recorded data in research. The Technological…

In the conduct of field studies, there are three different points at which data may be collected unobtrusively. The first is when there is a "search" for an area of study. The second point in which data may be gathered unobtrusively is when the researcher is attempting to further the analysis. The third point in which data are collected…

Based on the concept that library use measurement should have as its basic starting point the individual patron, a method of data collection and analysis has been developed that explores individual patterns of borrowing over time. The method accounts for the number of visits on which borrowing takes place, number of items borrowed per visit, and…

This paper presents a theoretical scheme and research methodology for studying marital interaction among elderly couples. The derivation of the conceptual scheme from the perspective of symbolic interaction, and the specific concepts used in the conceptual model, i.e., the social act, role taking, agreement on frame of reference, and confidence or…