The authors provide an instructional guide to evaluating public high schools utilizing school effectiveness research and statistical educational data. The historical background of public high schools in the United States includes the fundamental purposes of a public high school education and a discussion of the current educational trends at the high school level. A comprehensive synthesis of the effective schools literature is summarized with recommended categories to consider when assessing the effectiveness of a school.

The work includes a guide to the identification and effective use of sources for educational data. An extensive, practical guide to on-site school assessment includes suggested questions and observations to make during an assessment process. Three case studies further demonstrate the assessment process. The reference work is intended for parents seeking a good high school for their children, educators (including teacher educators, principals, teachers, and others wishing to improve their schools), and citizens who are interested in promoting education's position within our society.

Have you ever worried that literature on library instruction deals more with methods of assessing student attitude than student learning? If so, you'll be glad to know someone is doing something about it!! Eight unique disciplinary modules are presented, each identifying a series of information literacy objectives developed in accordance with Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives. A substantive curriculum map embedded within each module lists the sequence of courses required for the disciplinary major and the level at which the course is taught (sophomore, junior, etc.), notes whether information literacy instruction is currently taught by the library for that particular course, and delineates the specific information literacy learning objectives the students must master in order to fulfill the course assignments. Collaborative responsibility for teaching the information literacy skills is also outlined, with specific recommendations for ways the library can strengthen its support for the specific discipline. In addition, assessment methodologies are identified; including scoring rubrics designed specifically for the disciplinary information literacy objectives. An indispensable resource for academic librarians ready to take the leap from episodic reactive response to programmatic sequenced integration into the curriculum.