(Science) Education Standards Yield Standard Data-Collection of Instruments.

The final versions of nationally developed standards for science education have recently been published for use by practitioners, and it is obvious that these standards will have some influence on how science education is conducted. The effects of the standards on teaching and curriculum development can be anticipated, but their effects on evaluation in science education are not as obvious, although it does follow that instruments developed for evaluating a specific program that are true to the standards should be applicable to evaluation of other science education programs. Some evaluation tasks related to relevant standards found in recent literature are listed and described for STEP, a science education staff development program. Data collection instruments usually flowed readily from the standards, although their construction often required careful reading and interpretation. The STEP project was able to produce standards-based instruments such as Likert-type self-report rating scales, open-ended interview schedules, observation instruments, and program evaluation checklists. Some examples are given for: (1) teacher feedback on classroom teaching; (2) teacher feedback on effectiveness of a teacher institute; and (3) observational data collection during a training institute. The standards-based approach to evaluating a standards-based program seems to be worthwhile and efficient. An evaluation form is attached. (Contains 14 references.) (SLD)