Examines the drive to develop a national set of standards for the English Language Arts curriculum. Addresses the issues of what standards are, what the current standards terrain looks like, what sort of standards could be set, and what the dangers are in the process. Offers suggestions for educators to begin the process of developing useful…

Explores both the characteristics of, and relations between, two broad purposes of literacy assessment. Examines the tensions resulting from these characteristics and relations, and looks at new ways to think about these tensions, so that the educational community can build assessment systems that further the literacy education and achievement of…

Examines the major transactions regarding violence during the course of transcribed psychiatric evaluations for 92 recently violent patients. Coded and cross-tabulated the mentioning and action taken for patients describing violence. Findings support a progressive decrease in the discussion of violence and apparent breaches in the flow of…

Some of the major issues related to planning evaluations of federal human services national demonstration programs are discussed. Barriers to conducting evaluations are discussed for the policy level and cross-site and within-site evaluation contexts. Among the proposed solutions is the use of an explicit programmatic developmental sequence. (SLD)

The evaluation of a science education project for teachers in Durban (South Africa) illustrates some problems inherent in the application of the fourth-generation evaluation approach of Guba and Lincoln. One of the strongest concerns is that full participation by stakeholders may be an unrealistic assumption. (SLD)

Describes how Winnipeg public schools use an educational indicator system, including computer mapping graphics, to present indicator data to educational policymakers. Discusses issues and problems in the development and use of educational indicator systems, focusing on the relative importance of educational inputs, processes, and outcomes. (SV)

The Senate confirmation hearings concerning Robert Gates as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) highlight the problems evaluators share with the CIA of keeping policy imperatives out of the search for truth. The CIA at least has a structure for keeping information pure, but many evaluations do not. (SLD)

Considers individual differences in cognitive and social functioning and how and why those differences are measured. Presents some issues that are believed to be historically important to the development of testing, particularly intelligence testing, and consequently to the practice of school psychology. Discusses some continuing problems with…

Survey items representing 30 standards of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation were used to examine violations in program evaluations. Twenty-nine novice graduate students, 57 graduate students with moderate knowledge about evaluation, and 61 expert evaluators viewed propriety and accuracy standards as suffering the most…

Discusses the problems involved with both student and teacher evaluations. Examines better ways to evaluate teachers and asserts that teachers must find ways to dignify student evaluations of teachers and make the process thoughtful and reflective rather than mechanical. (PRA)

Addresses the involvement of international interest groups in defining and determining educational quality in developing countries, suggesting that global measures of quality damage the educational systems of developing countries by creating feelings of isolation and inferiority. Suggests alternative measures which meet global standards and may be…

Unintended effects of evaluation are discussed, with reference to the Hawthorne Effect, where unintended effects overshadow the manipulations controlled by researchers. Unintended effects are categorized as (1) affective reactions; (2) political dimensions; (3) importance of individual differences; and (4) expectations concerning evaluation.…

The education establishment's approach to set Chapter 1 standards at or near the legislative minimum for program improvement has unanticipated outcomes that do not advance the improvement effort. These outcomes and the dilemma between the negative aspects of being identified and the positive objective of program improvement are considered. (SLD)

Why conclusions of many outcome evaluations do not stand up to scrutiny is discussed, drawing on examples from evaluations of drug abuse prevention programs. Factors that undermine these studies are largely the result of social-structural problems that influence the design and implementation of the research. (SLD)

Reviews two recent professional publications concerning alternative assessment: "Portfolio Assessment in the Reading-Writing Classroom" and "Assessment and Evaluation in Whole Language Programs." (MG)