A proven method for working with teachers to design better evaluations There is no magic formula for successfully designing a teacher evaluation system. However there is abundant evidence that suggests involving teachers in the process will reduce the likelihood of opposition, gridlock, and reform failure. Everyone at the Table provides materials to genuinely engage teachers in the evaluation process. The book is a research-based and field-tested practical guide for school leaders. With this resource, educators will have the tools they need to develop meaningful teacher evaluations. Offers a collaborative approach to designing teacher evaluations Includes a companion web-based resource, with video This research-based program outlines a solid plan for improving teacher effectiveness through evaluation reform.

In an age that dictates accountability and verifiability of educational programs, institutions of higher education are called on to justify their programs. To meet these demands, there is a need for improved methods for the evaluation of teacher education programs. More importantly, there is a need for the development of methods and procedures to conduct continuous and on-going evaluation that can aid the process of program improvement. Many institutions have had difficulties in developing and implementing satisfactory systems for conducting needed evaluation. In recent years the standards for the approval of teacher education programs in all of the states were strengthened as were the standards for approval by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). These revised standards put even more emphasis on accountability and the need for both summative and formative evaluation in a teacher education program. Tennessee Technological University has long been recognized as an institution with an exemplary project in program evaluation. As a result, in 1986, the state of Tennessee established at Tennessee Technological University, a Center for Teacher Education Evaluation. The Center began work in July 1986, on the development of models and systems for conducting teacher education program evaluation. To most, teacher education program evaluation is simple and straightforward. Evaluation includes a set of options, a set of criteria, data collection and interpretation, x and then use in meeting accountability needs.

Educators are increasingly coming to realize the importance of making decisions based on reliable, accurate data. This short guide provides a blueprint for evaluating academic programs, practices, or strategies within a simple, effective framework. It includes a step-by-step walkthrough of the program evaluation cycle and an appendix that explains vital concepts and vocabulary in accessible language.

J. T. Sandefur Western Kentucky University American's ability to compete in world markets is eroding. The productivity growth of our competitors outdistances our own. The capacity of our economy to provide a high standard of living for all our people is increasingly in doubt. As jobs requiring little skill are automated or go offshore and demand increases for the highly skilled, the pool of educated and skilled people grows smaller and the backwater of the unemployable rises. Large numbers of American children are in limbo--ignorant of the past and unprepared for the future. Many are dropping out--notjust out of school--but out of productive society. These are not my words. They are a direct quote from the Executive Summary of the Carnegie Forum Report on Education and the Economy entitled A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century (p. 2, 1986). This report was motivated by four purposes: 1. To remind Americans, yet again, of the economic challenges pressing us on all sides; 2. To assert the primacy of education as the foundation of economic growth, equal opportunity and a shared national vision; 3. To reaffirm that the teaching profession is the best hope for establishing new standards of excellence as the hallmark of American education; and 4. To point out that a remarkable window of opportunity lies before us in the next decade to reform education, an opportunity that may not present itself again until well into the next century.

Please glance over the questions that follow and read the answers to those that are of interest. Q: What does this manual do? A: This manual guides the user through designing an evaluation. A: Who can use it? A: Anyone interested or involved in evaluating professional trammg or inservice education programs. The primary users will be staff members who are doing their own program evaluation-maybe for the first time. (Experienced evaluators or other professional educators can find useful guides and worksheets in it.) Q: If I work through this manual, what will I accomplish? A: You will develop one or more evaluation designs, and perhaps you'll also use the designs to evaluate something to make it better or to document its current value. Q: What is an evaluation design? A: An evaluation design is a conceptual and procedural map for getting important information about training efforts to people who can use it, as shown in the graphic below.