This study examines values in the curriculum of one specific Catholic girls' high school. It reports on a school-based curriculum evaluation which took place at the school and explores how the methodology used imposed limitations on the explication of values. The implications of these limitations on the development of an appropriate curriculum for such a specific schoolbody are examined in the light of the writings of Paulo Freire and the outlines of an alternative method for curriculum evaluation is developed and applied. Major elements of this alternative model include an historical analysis of the school community, the critical appraisal of its place in society, and the development of a praxis. This three-step approach is repeated three times; firstly in relation to the Catholic identity of the school, secondly in consideration of gender issues for a school for girls, and thirdly in respect to the school itself, operating in Canberra in the 1980s.

This study emanates from a concern about social injustice. I believe that a number of people in our society, by virtue of their race, gender or class, are disadvantaged in the distribution of wealth and privilege. Some people have suggested that schools contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of this situation because, in various ways, they replicate inequitable social, political and economic arrangements. I accept this claim and argue that any attempt to improve schooling must focus on the social, economic and political outcomes of education, as well as on curricular, pedagogical and administrative concerns. In this study one recent attempt to improve Australian education, the move to school-level curriculum evaluation, is examined to ascertain if it represents a challenge to existing school practices and the beliefs and assumptions which underpin these. Dominant ideological orientations to improvement are examined and their key features and assumptions delineated. Because I believe that these exclude any consideration of the relationship between school knowledge and the distribution of power and privilege within society, an attempt is made to reconceptualize school-level curriculum evaluation in a way that will permit teachers to unpack what schools do socially, politically and economically. Theories of cultural and economic reproduction and the work of Freire are drawn on to help with this task. Evaluation policy statements and guidelines and examples of evaluation practice are then analysed in terms of dominant and reconceptualized notions of evaluation. What emerges is that although many of these are engulfed by dominant and limiting ideologies, school-level curriculum may be reconceptualized in a way that will permit the penetration and contestation of dominant practices and beliefs and thereby will offer educators a possible means of addressing problems of social injustice.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Douglas A. Archbald, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

The primary question to be answered as a result of the research was: Do native English-speaking undergraduate students learn CD-ROM database search skills more effectively through the use of conventional instruction method or by training confined to a written manual self-instructional method? Thirty-seven Oregon State University students were randomly assigned to two groups and participated in the study. The study utilized an experimental pretest-posttest control group design. The length of the study was six weeks. All participants were pre and post-measured using the CD-ROM Database Competency Test which was validated using the Delphi method. The subjects were trained using Wilsondisc and SilverPlatter databases. ANCOVA and t-tests were the main statistics utilized in the analysis. The results of the study were as follows: 1) Subjects in both treatment groups experienced significant test score gains between pretest and posttest; 2) Those subjects which were assigned to the conventional instruction group had significantly higher scores than did subjects assigned to the self-instruction group; 3) Subject gender was determined not to be a factor when differences were considered from test results; 4) Interaction did not play a significant role in influencing the data results; 5) Students rated formal training as being very helpful in improving the effectiveness of their CD-ROM database searches. The major conclusion drawn from the study was that the native English-speaking students at Oregon State University learned CD-ROM searching skills more effectively through the conventional instruction method than those students who were trained by self-instruction. The results of the study substantiated the need to undertake further efforts to improve the efficiency of learning CD-ROM access instructional methods in higher educational settings. / Graduation date: 1994

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2005. / "August 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-212). Online version available on the World Wide Web. Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2005]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm.

Abstract The purposes of this research were¡G(1) to uncover the implementation of school-based curriculum evaluation and the current state of teacher¡¦s self-understanding on professional curriculum knowledge and skills of public elementary schools of Kaohsiung City; (2) to analyze the differences of dimensions of school-based curriculum evaluation on different background variables; (3) to realize the differences on professional curriculum knowledge and skills of teachers on different background variables; (4) to explore the relationship between the current outcomes of school-based curriculum evaluation and professional curriculum knowledge and skills of teachers; (5) to offer feasible suggestions according to the results for schools which can implement school-based curriculum evaluation and teachers who might improve their curriculum knowledge and skills. This research adopted questionnaire method to collect information about the current state of the implementation of school-based curriculum and self-understanding of professional knowledge and skills of teachers in public elementary schools of Kaohsiung City. Questionnaires were given to 552 teachers of 45 classes and 438 of which were valid. Two major instruments, i.e. The outcomes of School-Based Curriculum Questionnaire and Teacher¡¦s Self-understanding of Professional Curriculum Knowledge and Skills Questionnaire, were designed to collect data, which were later analyzed by means of percentage frequently distribution, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and so on. The major results were summarized as follows¡G 1. Most teachers affirm the fine achievements of the current state of school-based curriculum evaluation in public elementary schools of Kaohsiung City. There are high performances in self-understanding of professional curriculum knowledge and skills of teachers in public elementary schools of Kaohsiung City. Therefore, Schools in Kaohsiung have put into effects of the implementation of school-based curriculum evaluation. 2. Age, educational background and teaching seniority of teachers have no influence on school-based curriculum evaluation; teachers who hold executive positions ranked high on ¡§evaluation use¡¨ by levels, and approve the implementation of it. High school-based curriculum evaluation participation ranked high in ¡§evaluation plan¡¨ by levels, and approve the measures of it. There were significant differences on school scales, history of school-based curriculum evaluation by levels. 3. There were significant differences on teacher curriculum professional knowledge and skills based on diverse educational background, position and the participation. Teachers who have a graduate school diploma, hold the executive positions or have high degree of participation in school-based curriculum evaluation show better curriculum professional knowledge and skills¡FThere is no influence on age and seniority of teachers. School scales and history show significant differences on teacher curriculum professional knowledge and skills, and medium schools or schools which have the history more than 61 years ranked high on teacher curriculum professional knowledge and skills. 4. Separating high from low performance on school-based curriculum evaluation has significant differences on self-understanding of teacher curriculum professional knowledge and skills. Teachers who have high performance are equipped with better professional knowledge and skills, vice versa. In accordance with the results of this research, suggestions concerning aspects of the authorities, schools, educational executive units were put forward. Further studies were also proposed. Key words: the implementation of school-based curriculum evaluation, professional curriculum knowledge and skills

ABSTRACT EVALUATION OF AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING PROGRAM AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY USING CIPP MODEL TUN&Ccedil / , Ferda M.S. Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cennet Engin DEMiR January 2010, 110 pages This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Ankara University Preparatory School program through the perspectives of instructors and students. To this end, the CIPP (context, input, process, and product) evaluation model developed by Stufflebeam (1971) was utilized. 406 students attending the preparatory school in the 2008-2009 academic year and 12 instructors teaching in the program participated in the study. The data were gathered through a self-reported student questionnaire and an interview schedule which was designed for the instructors. Besides, in order to obtain more detailed information about the preparatory school, written documents were examined. While the data based on the questionnaire were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, content analysis was carried out to analyze the qualitative data. Multivariate Analysis of Variances with Pillai&rsquo / s Trace test was employed to investigate whether the significant differences among dependent variables across independent variables existed. Results of the study indicated that the program at Ankara University Preparatory School partially served for its purpose. The findings revealed that some improvements in the physical conditions, content, materials and assessment dimensions of the program were required to make the program more effective.

The Evaluation of the Whole Curriculum Projects of the Schools in the Nine-Year Compulsory Curriculum--Examples of the Elementary Schools at Kaohsiung City. Meng-Ho Shih Abstract This study aims at evaluating the whole curriculum projects of the elementary schools which put Nine-Year Compulsory Curriculum into practice at Kaohsiung City. The subjects of this study contain the whole curriculum projects of eighty-six elementary schools at Kaohsiung City in 90 academic years. The collective data are analyzed by qualitative and quantitative methods. And the methods of this study are the analysis of documents, the analysis of subjects and interviews. The results of this study include the following and here also propose some concrete suggestions according to the results. 1.Investigating the process that Bureau of Education of Kaohsiung City examinates and executes the whole curriculum projects of the elementary schools. 2.Establishing the criterions of evaluating the whole curriculum projects of the elementary schools which put Nine-Year Compulsory Curriculum into practice. 3.Evaluating the whole curriculum projects based on Nine-Year Compulsory Curriculum Guideline. 4.Investigating the problems of learning objectives and competence indicators within the curriculum projects for the elementary schools. 5.Investigating the problems of the integrated curriculum within the curriculum projects for the elementary schools. 6.Investigating the version of textbooks which each learning area use and the implementation of the curriculum projects for the elementary schools. 7.Proposing suggestions for improving the whole curriculum projects and Nine-Year Compulsory Curriculum to the authorities of education and schools according the findings of this study. Keywords¡GCurriculum Evaluation Nine-Year Compulsory Curriculum Curriculum Project

Thesis (D. Ed.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-134).