The evaluation of faculty development programs

This article reviews literature pertinent to the evaluation of faculty development programs and presents data from several studies conducted at two institutions. These data were consistent with those previously reported in that faculty participants consistently expressed satisfaction with development services. In addition, one study found that most faculty members voluntarily took some action to improve their instructional effectiveness, though only a minority pursued these efforts in depth. Volunteers who worked intensively with a faculty development consultant improved more on objective measures of effectiveness than did those who were only superficially involved in improvement efforts; those who received no consultative assistance failed to improve significantly. Evidence from a final study provided a control for faculty motivation and led to the conclusion that improvement was contingent both on faculty desire to improve and on the availability of professional assistance.     

An investigation of alpha,beta, and gamma change in developmental assessment center participants

Despite widespread application of developmental assessment centers (DACs), little is known about the impact of the process on participants' understanding of the assessed performance dimensions. This study explores this issue by applying Golembiewski, Billingsley, and Yeager's (1976) tripartite model of change to assess the presence of alpha, beta, and gamma change in DAC participants. Using the method outlined by Terborg, Howard, and Maxwell (1980), we investigate the nature and type of change occurring in a sample of mid‐level managers following a DAC. Evidence for all three types of change was found across the six dimensions targeted by the DAC. Results suggest DACs may not only be an effective means to facilitate perceived performance improvement (alpha change), they may also succeed in facilitating new insight in participants regarding the dimensions on which they are assessed (beta and gamma change).     

Factors influencing early adolescents’ mathematics achievement: High-quality teaching rather than relationships

This study used data from the Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning project, which involved data on the academic performance of more than 90,000 New Zealand students in six subjects (i.e. reading, writing and mathematics in two languages). Two sub-samples of this dataset were included for detailed re-analysis to test the general applicability of the Australian model of Quality of School Life (Ainley et al. 1986) in the New Zealand context. The first sample comprised 336 year 8 students from elementary schools and the second sample consisted of 272 year 10 students from high schools. Furthermore, two structural equation models were developed and tested, expressing relationships between students’ quality of school life perceptions, students’ attitudes to mathematics, and their effects on mathematics achievement. The quality of school life questionnaires scales [Ainley and Bourke, in Res Pap Educ 7(2):107–128, 1992] were used as indicators of students’ perceptions regarding learning, teachers and peer relationships. The model proposed that perceived quality of school life would affect students’ attitudes of liking and confidence in mathematics, which would in turn affect their academic performance. After controlling for other variables in the model, students’ perception about their self-efficacy to learn mathematics was more directly related to outcomes than to perceptions of teacher quality or peer involvement. Data analyses revealed no apparent relationships of these factors to mathematics achievement. Moreover, results for both samples led to the conclusion that the perceived quality of learning is connected with ‘confidence in’ and ‘liking mathematics’, which in turn predict students’ mathematics achievement.     

The Index of Forecasting Efficiency,for the Case of a “True” Criterion

A variety of personal characteristics have been shown to be influential in teacher-student relationships. The sex of the child as well as the appropriateness of his behavior were the factors evaluated in this study. An analysis of the results indicated that sex-inappropriate behavior was viewed less favorably than sex-appropriate behavior. A discussion of the results was presented with regard to support for previous studies and implications for future research.     

Factor Analysis of High School Variables and Success in University Subjects for the First Semester in the University

A stress management program was evaluated in sixth-grade classes of an urban public and a suburban parochial school. Sample 1, from the urban public school, and Sample 2, from the suburban parochial school, received pre- and posttests. Sample 3, from the suburban parochial school, was divided into pretest-only and posttest-only groups. Six self-esteem and 1 each stress and social-skills children's self-ratings and 1 each teachers' ratings of children's overall stress management and stress measures were used. All 10 measures showed improvement in the Samples 1 and 2 independently. Findings in Sample 2 replicated the positive effects in Sample 1. In both sixth-grade classes, children's stress level (self- and teachers' ratings), children's social skills and self-esteem self-ratings, and teachers' ratings of children's stress management skills improved significantly. Sample 3 posttest-only group scores did not differ significantly from the posttest scores of Sample 1 and 2 children. Rival hypotheses (e.g., history, maturation, testing) appeared implausible. Results support using skills-oriented stress management programs in regular grade school classes.     

Integrating Language,Literacy, and Academic Development: Alternatives to Traditional English as a Second Language and Remedial English for Language Minority Students in Community Colleges

This article argues for the importance of integrating a focus on language, literacy, and academic development for United States-educated language minority (US-LM) students, sometimes called Generation 1.5. It describes four initiatives at community colleges in California that aim to do so. US-LM students have completed some K–12 schooling in the United States, but their English is considered by community college faculty, staff, or assessment measures to be inadequate for college-level instruction. Although enacting effective language and literacy support for Generation 1.5 has centered on debates about whether these students belong in English as a Second Language (ESL) or remedial English courses, how they can best be identified and tested, or whether they should be taught in separate classes, we argue that more fundamental shifts are needed. Instead of conceiving of students’ language and literacy development solely in terms of progress through ESL or remedial English sequences, educators designing support for US-LM students must also consider larger contexts of students’ academic progress, promoting students’ development of language and literacy for success in academic and professional settings as well as progress toward completing credits required for associate degrees, certificates, and transfer to four-year institutions.     

PPBS in higher education planning and management: Part I,an overview

Higher education in the United States and elsewhere is beset by crises: crises of public confidence, questions of continuing relevance, doubts about continuing the emphasis on doctoral instruction, and a very real financial crisis. In response, governing boards and governmental agencies are devoting increasing attention to the management of higher education. Part of this response has been a heightened interest in formal planning-programming-budgeting-systems (PPBS); in fact, several states have legislated the adoption of PPBS for higher educational planning and decision making. Similar interest has been evidenced in other countries. Therefore, it is an appropriate time to reconsider the nature and role of PPBS and its potential impact on higher education. This paper describes the salient characteristics of PPBS and traces the development of PPBS and related analytical techniques in governmental agencies and institutions of higher education. A second paper will illustrate both the concepts and the implementation of PPBS by a detailed exposition of the University of California's experience with PPBS. Finally, in a third paper we suggest an alternative view of policy analysis for educational planning which is a departure from traditional PPBS. We conclude with general observations and specific recommendations to educational managers seeking to improve their resource allocation procedures.