Localizing National Standards for Evaluation of Distance Education: An Example from a Multistate Project

Abstract

As distance education expands with the advent of new technologies, it becomes increasingly important to evaluate its use and its impact on the educational system. With the development of statewide distance education systems, evaluation takes on new dimensions. Evaluation must not only meet the needs of the local institutions, it must also serve state and sometimes federal agencies. The information demands of multiple clients may lead to complex evaluation plans, plans that ultimately affect the activities of the institutions involved. This chapter describes the development of effectiveness indicators that address the needs of local, federal, and multistate stakeholders. The community college can help by identifying local priorities, fostering new partnerships, and assisting with the collection of assessment data.In 1987, Congress authorized an initiative, the Star Schools Program Assistance Act, to promote use of telecommunications in education. Initial funding was provided to multistate public and private consortia offering satellite instruction (Simonson, 1994;Wilson, 1990). More recently, the Star Schools program has pushed new technologies to the forefront of distance education through the funding of demonstration projects employing fiber-optic voice, video, and data transmission.In 1992, Iowa received a special statewide Star Schools grant to demonstrate the use of fiber-optic technology to provide live two-way, full-motion interactive instruction allowing greater levels of interactivity than available in previous forms of distance instruction (Simonson, 1994). A two-year $8 million grant for development of the state' s fiber-optic system was awarded to a NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, no. 99, Fall 1997 © Jossey-Bass Publishers 53