Faculty ratings as a measure of departmental and administrator quality

This study examined the usefulness of faculty ratings as a measure of departmental quality. Two hundred and thirty-three faculty members from six departments responded to two questionnaires relating to the department—the Department Evaluation Survey (DES)—and to the department head—the Administrator Evaluation Survey (AES). A factor analysis of the DES revealed three underlying dimensions: Satisfaction with the Department's Academic Environment, Satisfaction with the Department's Governance and Operating Procedures, and Satisfaction with Student Quality. The factor analysis of the AES identified only one underlying dimension. Both the DES and AES were found to be highly reliable and effective in discriminating among departments. Very high positive correlations were also found between selacted DES and AES items suggesting that the performance of the head plays a very important role in faculty perceptions of the departments, and vice versa. Faculty ratings would appear to be a useful initial criterion in evaluating a department or head.     

The instructor self-evaluation form: Development and validation of an ipsative forced-choice measure of self-perceived faculty performance

An ipsative forced-choice college faculty self-evaluation questionnaire was developed. The instrument was validated by comparing self-evaluation scores to student rating scores and by comparing superior and nonsuperior instructors on the basis of student ratings. Both analyses yielded positive, but modest, indications of validity. Implications are discussed relative to the questionnaire's utility in faculty development activities.     

Development of Working Memory from Grade 3 to 5: Differences between Children With and Without Mathematical Learning Difficulties

Based on the finding that children with mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) have deficits in working memory (WM), the question arises as to whether these children differ from typical learners only in the level or also in the developmental trajectories of WM functioning. To this end, the WM of 80 children with MLD and 71 typical learners was assessed longitudinally from third to fifth grade. Typical learners outperformed children with MLD in the phonological, visuospatial and central executive WM functioning in third grade. Latent change analyses indicated that both phonological and central executive WM functioning developed in a parallel pattern in children with MLD and in typical learners. In contrast, visuospatial WM functioning revealed a different development in children with and without MLD since the gap between both groups decreased over time. Overall, despite starting at a lower level, the WM functioning in children with MLD did not develop more slowly.     

Migrant worker children: Conceptions of homelessness and implications for education

In this paper the authors draw from interviews with young migrant workers to problematize the question "What is a home?" The argument is made that once we acknowledge alternative images of "home" and the values and priorities that follow, policies and services for migrant workers and their children might take different forms than are currently configured. Migrating, or becoming "homeless," is a choice these families make to maintain their family structure. For these people homed-homeless is not a dichotomy. Rather, the operative word is family. The structure of the family is analyzed as a lifeworld (Habermas, 1984, 1987), or system of values and experiences that defines choices and ways of acting. Importantly, migrant workers travel as families and often as extended families. The unit of the family is assumed. Tensions arise when an individual member of the family questions the assumption of everyone working together for the family unit. When the family decides to break the unit, for example by sending a child away so he/she can attend school, the unit suffers as well as the individual. The sense of power that many assume is located in the home - a particular physical space - is also located in the family and the relationships among persons the word family implies. Social policies and institutions often disregard this distinction. 1     

Summative Evaluation

Summative evaluation is defined as the process of determining the value, effectiveness, or efficiency of an object to form a decision–making basis about that object. In this article, we present an overview of one major aspect of summative evaluation–the planning process–and then present essays on five topics that we believe are difficult issues most often faced in the conduct of summative evaluation. These five topics are: (a) client commitment to evaluation; (b) evaluating the training organization; (c) evaluating management training; (d) institutionalizing the evaluation process; and (e) the conduct of cost benefit studies.     

Solutions to Literacy Deficiencies in the Workplace; A Survey of Current Practices

Much attention has focused on employee basic skill (literacy) problems in recent years. Most authorities on the topic have focused their attention on two solutions alone: (a) offering in-house training to employees short-term solution intended to rectify existing basic skill deficiencies in the workforce; and (b) supporting public education as a long-term solution intended to ensure that future job applicants/employees possess basic skills adequate for beginning work. Few writers or authorities have suggested alternative performance improvement strategies to address basic skill problems. This article identifies a range of performance improvement strategies for addressing basic skill deficiencies and summarizes results of a recent survey of training and development professionals about how often these strategies are used in their organizations. In general, many survey respondents indicated that their organizations are using many different performance improvement strategies to address basic skill problems.     

Following student ratings over time with a catalog-based system

First, the longitudinal nature of student ratings of instructors has not received deserved emphasis from researchers. Second, the use of item banks for designing student rating questionnaires, especially for instructor feedback, has needed attention. These two factors are investigated in this study, which tracks 304 instructors over a four semester period. It was found that the type of questionnaire generated from the item bank led to statistically significant differences among designated groups. The longitudinal analysis, however, indicated only minor improvement over time, regardless of whether or not an instructor chose to use items yielding specific feedback on the instructional components of a course. Additionally, although main effect differences were noted between teaching assistants and regular faculty, other results were very similar.