This document provides guidance toward planning and implementing an evaluation process for for-profit or nonprofit programs. There are many kinds of evaluations that can be applied to programs, for example, goals-based, process-based, and outcomes-based, among others. A page that debunks common myths about evaluation and describes where program evaluation is useful is provided. It contains a handy ... Full description.

This paper presents several methods used in undergraduate geology classes to obtain mid-course improvements. These include teaching practices evaluation, consultation, in-class videotapes, student management teams, knowledge surveys, and classroom assessment techniques (CATs). The abstract is available on-line and the full paper can be downloaded. Full description.

This article describes why portfolios may be useful for improving assessment and for motivating and involving students more in their own learning. Topics include instructional uses, assessment uses, tracking growth over time, accountability, and references for further reading. This resource is intended for K-12 teachers to use in the classroom. Full description.

This is a list of ready-made rubrics that are organized by grade level or subject. Science is included as a subject, and there are rubrics for levels K through 12. Full description.

This is a checklist designed to help middle school users critically evaluate web resources. By answering the questions in the checklist, students can then assess if the site would be a good one to use for their science research projects. There is a series of "How does it look?" questions and a series of "What did you learn?" questions that challenge students to think critically about what they are ... Full description.

This comprehensive guide leads the user step-by-step through questionnaire creation. Topics include preliminary considerations, writing the questionnaire items, issues that may come up when giving the questionnaire, statistical considerations, and references for further reading. This resource is intended for novice and professional evaluators. Full description.

This resource offers information on what porfolio assessment is, what it's most useful for, what it's not as useful for, its advantages and disadvantages, step-by-step guidelines, and a bibliography. This resource is intended for use by K-12 teachers but may be valuable for anyone who wants to learn more about the portfolio assessment technique. Full description.

The Western Michigan University Evaluation Center initiated this project to make sound evaluation checklists more widely available and facilitate discourse on the development and use of checklists. Checklists are useful tools for evaluators because they are versatile, mnemonic, reduce the chances of overlooking important factors, reduce biases such as halo effect, and increase the defensibility of ... Full description.

In this paper the scientific side of concept mapping is viewed as "soft science" and the artistic one as "hard art" to imply that the process has some qualities of both, but probably does not fall exclusively within either's domain. In the spirit of hard art, a "gallery" of final concept maps from twenty projects is presented, partly to illustrate more examples of the process when used in a variety ... Full description.

This site contains printable, downloadable forms for teachers to use in the classroom. It includes a daily point sheet, group self-evaluation, portfolio assessment chart, student progress report, student progress self-evaluation, and others. Full description.