ERIC Number: ED327738
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1990
Pages: 37
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
A Framework for Evaluating Local Vocational Education Programs. Information Series No. 344.
McCaslin, N. L.
To help vocational education administrators and practitioners, this paper presents a framework for vocational education program evaluation. Evaluation is defined as the act of rendering judgments to determine a program's value; two major types are formative and summative. Vocational education evaluation should take a broader and more comprehensive approach than a focus on student achievement. This approach requires use of valid and reliable information of three interrelated types: needs, processes, and outcomes. The needs for vocational education include students' interests, knowledge, attitudes, and skills; the knowledge, attitudes, and skills employers want in employees; and the educational, economic, and social needs of society. Sources of information about vocational education program processes include: (1) organizational information; (2) program information; (3) support services and activities; (4) staff; (5) student demographic characteristics and educational achievement; and (6) community information. Also part of the evaluation framework are economic outcomes (labor force participation, employment and unemployment rates, training-related placement, type of employment, earnings, employee satisfaction with work, employer satisfaction with employees); educational outcomes (academic and higher-order thinking skills, knowledge of the world of work, occupational skills, school attendance and dropout rates, continuing education rates, satisfaction with education); and psychosocial outcomes (aspirations, attitudes, values, self-esteem, citizenship, and leadership). (28 references) (SK)
Descriptors: Accountability, Data Collection, Educational Change, Evaluation Criteria, Information Needs, Information Sources, Outcomes of Education, Postsecondary Education, Program Evaluation, Program Improvement, Secondary Education, Vocational Education
Publications, Center on Education and Training for Employment, 1900 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1090 (order no. IN344: $4.75).
Publication Type: ERIC Publications
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners; Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, Columbus, OH.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A