Comments on Professor Alkin's Paper Entitled 'Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of Instructional Programs.'

Cost-effectiveness represents an attempt to apply one methodology to decision-making in education. Three recent trends in the behavioral and social sciences are apparent: Rationalization in the decision process, institutionalization of research in education, and the beginning of a general theory of organizational behavior. The problem posed is how to combine the decision process of cost-effectiveness with the behavioral processes of institutional decision-making. A general theory of instructional evaluation is needed to unify evaluations. Questions are raised about the specific problem area of concern, the relevant variables, and the environmental influences of the school. The openness of the school system is affected by its interactions with other systems, by the criteria used in evaluation, and by feedback. Cost-effectiveness is only a part of the systems approach in the evaluation of instructional programs. Related documents are EA 002 407 and EA 002 534. (MLF)