For Texas's Career Ladder System of rewarding good teachers, teachers' performance evaluations from 1981 to 1984 were used to rank teachers in the Austin Independent School District. Significant biases were noted between raters, between years, and between elementary and secondary teacher ratings. To adjust for these biases, each teacher's raw…

This report summarizes some of the literature focusing on specific aspects of the cultures of American Indians and the concommitant testing and assessment problems. The issues of non-competitiveness, language barriers, and a high incidence of middle ear disease among American Indian children are examined as they affect the assessment process. The…

Two approaches to the study of long-term effects of different prekindergarten (pre-K) programs in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) were studied. In one study, limited English proficient (LEP) students attending AISD kindergartens in 1981-82, 1982-83, and 1983-84 were followed to see if those who attended pre-K showed an…

A comparative analysis evaluated three studies that dealt with the differences among five-year-olds that should be considered before reading instruction is initiated in kindergarten. The premise of the comparison was that children from different countries (especially Israel, where these studies were conducted), have different abilities, react…

More than 8,000 secondary school students participated in the AFS International exchange programs in 1983, and this document examines some of the research that investigates the impact of travel abroad and intercultural experiences on personality development. Cigdem Kagitcibasi, in a study of the effects of a 10-month program on student…

Indicators of school-level achievement, such as the percentage of students who are proficient in a particular content area, are subject to random year-to-year variation in much the same way that the results of an opinion poll will vary from one random sample to another. This random variation, which is more pronounced for a small school, should be…

This document is comprised of the 1998 issues (issues 3 and 4 are combined) of a quarterly newsletter produced by the Harvard Family Research Project to share new ideas and experiences in evaluating systems reform and comprehensive child and family services. Regular columns include: "From the Director's Desk,""Theory and…

Presents the findings from research studies regarding the effectiveness and validity of various assessment accommodations for English Language Learners (ELLs) including: modifying English exams, providing glossaries and dictionaries, and allowing extra time. Based on the research findings, provides eight recommendations to policy makers and…

The history of the African people before slavery and colonization illustrates the ways in which different pictures of reality are created by which data are selected and ignored. The model of inquiry that verifies historical accuracy can help all program evaluators provide greater truth and equity for their clients. (SLD)

Discusses the evaluation of second and foreign language programs, focusing on whether such evaluations should be summative or formative; use outside experts or program staff; emphasize qualitative or quantitative data; and concentrate on the process or the product. An annotated bibliography discusses six important works in the field. (78…

The problems faced by the author as an external evaluator responsible for evaluating a grass roots initiative for school managers in Great Britain are examined. The focus is on evaluating a management development program in the field and training an evaluator, rather than on outcomes of the program itself. (SLD)

The future of program evaluation is bright if evaluators do not ignore their roots in quantitative research. The current interest in qualitative approaches and the call for a "fourth generation" in evaluation should not override training in quantitative research. Qualitative research should complement, rather than replace, traditional…

Describes approaches to developing software automating instructional design (ID), including comparison of information management and expert system approaches. Topics addressed include alternative ID automation systems; ID variables; authoring assistance software; the nature of ID expertise; user-system communication; system evaluation; and user…

A case study illustrates the ways in which local reactions to a program evaluation directly threaten its validity, and shows that not all participants in a qualitative evaluation study understand or defer to the commitments of democratic evaluation. Ethical concerns in program evaluation are considered. (SLD)

Outlines problems involved in information retrieval evaluation and suggests a more user-centered interpretive approach. A longitudinal study that examines evaluation through the information-seeking behavior of 22 case studies of actual users is described; and relevance judgments, effectiveness ratios, and analysis of document failures are…