This book is about the practice of decision making by school principals and about ways to improve this practice by capitalizing on evaluation dimensions. Much has been written on decision making but surprisingly little on decision making in the school principalship. Much has been also written on evaluation as well as on evaluation and decision making, but not much has been written on evaluation in decision making, especially decision making in the principalship. This book presents two messages. One is that decision making in the principalship can be studied and improved and not only talked about in abstract terms. The other message is that evaluation can contribute to the understanding of decision making in the principalship and to the improvement of its practice. In this book we call for the conception of an evaluation-minded principal, a principal who has a wide perspective on the nature of evaluation and its potential benefits, a principal who is also inclined to use evaluation perceptions and techniques as part of his/her decision-making process. This book was conceived in 1985 with the idea to combine thoughts about educational administration with thoughts about educational evaluation. Studies of decision making in the principalship had already been on their way. We decided to await the findings, and in the meantime we wrote a first conceptual version of evaluation in decision making. As the studies were completed we wrote a first empirical version of same.

This book presents a comprehensive conceptual framework for school evaluation, and evaluation methods that can be used within the framework of the school for the benefit of students, teachers, school administrators and parents. It is based on concepts and ideas originally developed in the area of program evaluation and combining internal and external evaluation, it provides a common ground for school evaluation, including student assessment, program evaluation, teacher appraisal and school review. It is a book for schools, and for educators, parents, policy makers, and professional evaluators who believe in schools, and consider schools to be the main component of the educational system.

The book consists of three major parts. In the first part the concept of school-based evaluation is being discussed in the way it is perceived throughout the book. The second part of the book deals with evaluation methods that could be useful to schools in evaluating students, programs, instructional materials, teachers and the school as a whole. The third part of the book focuses on the organizational context of school evaluation. It includes two chapters - one related to internal organizational problems, which need to be resolved in order to institutionalize an effective school evaluation system, while the other deals with the meaning of evaluation as a basis for a dialogue, and the need to develop such new discourse for evaluation in general, and even more so for school-based evaluation.

Originally published in 1979. This study was supported by a grant from the Bernard Van Leer Foundation, The Hague, Netherlands. The Gifted Disadvantaged is the result of a ten year study, and presents an innovative program in the education of the more gifted among the socially disadvantaged, demonstrating the merit of such a program designed and implemented in Israel.

Originally published in 1979. This study was supported by a grant from the Bernard Van Leer Foundation, The Hague, Netherlands. The Gifted Disadvantaged is the result of a ten year study, and presents an innovative program in the education of the more gifted among the socially disadvantaged, demonstrating the merit of such a program designed and implemented in Israel.

This book is about the practice of decision making by school principals and about ways to improve this practice by capitalizing on evaluation dimensions. Much has been written on decision making but surprisingly little on decision making in the school principalship. Much has been also written on evaluation as well as on evaluation and decision making, but not much has been written on evaluation in decision making, especially decision making in the principalship. This book presents two messages. One is that decision making in the principalship can be studied and improved and not only talked about in abstract terms. The other message is that evaluation can contribute to the understanding of decision making in the principalship and to the improvement of its practice. In this book we call for the conception of an evaluation-minded principal, a principal who has a wide perspective on the nature of evaluation and its potential benefits, a principal who is also inclined to use evaluation perceptions and techniques as part of his/her decision-making process. This book was conceived in 1985 with the idea to combine thoughts about educational administration with thoughts about educational evaluation. Studies of decision making in the principalship had already been on their way. We decided to await the findings, and in the meantime we wrote a first conceptual version of evaluation in decision making. As the studies were completed we wrote a first empirical version of same.