| Abstract: | It would be difficult to identify an educational group or agency at the national or state level that is not involved in identifying and observing educational indicators (Smith, 1988). The use of such indicators really came to the forefront during the 1980s. With the increased emphasis on accountability and the quality of education in the U.S., one can only expect that the quality and use of educational indicators will increase during the 1990s. A parallel situation canbe found in the private sector. While the terminology may be somewhat different, the use of such indicators in business and industry became important during the 1980s and is expected to increase during the 1990s, as well. Previous studies have demonstrated the utility of performance indicators to educational decision makers in a business setting (McLinden, 1987). In this paper, we discuss two studies which have influenced policy by assessing program impact and influencing strategic direction. The paper concludes by grounding our work in the tradition of secondary research (Kiecolt & Natlar, 1985) and discussing both the pros and cons of this evaluation method. |
