NCJ Number
117066
Date Published
1987
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Assessment instruments recently used by school improvement projects are described and compared to guide educators who are choosing such instruments to rate their schools and to help researchers identify the areas in which research will be the most helpful.
Abstract
The study sample included 22 of the 39 school improvement projects described in a recent directory of effective school projects. Projects were grounded in a base of research knowledge about effective schools and effective teaching, emphasized change at the building level, and were operating during the 1984-85 school year. The 22 projects used a total of 82 instruments. The 12 that were clones of other instruments or were classroom instruments to assess time use were excluded, leaving 70 instruments. Self-administered questionnaires were used to provide information about each instrument's ease of use, usefulness of information provided, and psychometric properties. Analysis revealed that 20 instruments provide reliable, valid, and practical measures of several important dimensions of school organization and composition. Some provide assessments relying on teachers and other adult school staff, others assess a broader range of school characteristics, and only three systematically include students in the assessment process. Collaboration between researchers and practitioners is recommended to develop, test, and refine school assessment instruments. Footnotes, 7 references, and appended data tables and list of sources of the 20 recommended instruments.