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Appalachian State University
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Boone, NC 28608

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Criteria for Program Evaluation

by Hunter R. Boylan & Barbara S. Bonham

For many years it was impossible to draw any conclusions about developmental education nationally because reported data was not consistent nor were there any established criteria for evaluation. Programs in some states evaluated themselves based on the number of students who passed developmental courses while those in other states evaluated themselves based on the number of students who passed a final examination. Some programs measured student satisfaction with services, others measured the number of times students used services, and still others measured the retention of those who used services. Consequently, no one could ascertain the effectiveness of developmental education beyond the individual campus level. Furthermore, even individual campuses could not compare their results with others.

For these reasons, the National Center for Developmental Education has advocated the development of an "industry standard" for evaluating developmental programs. Beginning with the National Study of Developmental Education (1990-96) and continuing through 2003, the Center has attempted to identify standardized evaluation criteria and encourage their use. The evaluation criteria suggested here result from that effort.

These evaluation criteria are drawn from:

  • National Center for Education Statistics reports of developmental education,
  • The National Study of Developmental Education (Exxon Project),
  • State Higher Education Agency reports on developmental education,
  • Published research studies on developmental education, and
  • Institutional research reports.

These data, therefore, represent something of an "industry standard" in the evaluation of developmental education. As a result, individuals using these criteria to evaluate their programs can claim to be using appropriate measures and should be able to compare their data with data from other sources.

QUANTITATIVE
Criteria
Source
How many students participated in the program/courses?  
How many hours of tutoring were offered?  
How many sections of developmental courses were offered?  
What % of the students who entered the course stayed for the entire term?  
What % of those who stayed the entire term earned a C or better?  
What were the g-scores for those taking the course or receiving tutoring?  
How many of those who participated in the course/program remained for one semester?  
What % of those who passed the lowest level developmental course took and passed the next level developmental course?  
What % of those who passed the highest level developmental course took and passed the next level curriculum course in that subject?  
What % of those who took one or more developmental courses were retained from fall to fall?  
What % of those who took one or more developmental courses graduated within 2,3,4,5,6 years?  
QUALITATIVE
Criteria
Source
To what extent are student users satisfied with the program?  
What are faculty/staff perceptions of the program?  
What are faculty/staff perceptions of the program's students?  
What is the impact of program on the campus as a whole?