The "Integrated Approaches to Supporting Child Development and Improving Family Economic Security" project was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and Northwestern University for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human…

This book, for the first time ever, critically examines the role of full service and extended schools. The authors draw on their extensive international evaluations of this radical new phenomenon to ask: (1) What do extended or full service schools hope to achieve, and why should services based on schools be any more effective than services…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is committed to bringing together museums and libraries across the country for conversations dedicated to developing a better understanding of the roles of libraries and museums as providers of public service to communities. The Future of Libraries and Museums in the 21st Century Planning…

Over the past several years, a number of new programs, policies, and initiatives designed to promote the employment of people with disabilities have been implemented by state and federal agencies, and are being evaluated to greater and lesser degrees. The purpose of this report is to provide a review of the recent evaluation activities being…

This paper reviews systematic research findings on the effectiveness of various interventions designed to help at-risk students remain in college. It shows how changes in federal policy and public attitudes since the mid-1960s have opened up higher education to women, minorities, and nontraditional students and also shifted the "center of gravity"…

This report examines five models of school-based integrated human service programs to evaluate the effects of the programs in light of the growing support for and implementation of these programs. The study examined the following programs: (1) school-based health clinics in Baltimore (Maryland); (2) Success for All (an elementary school-level…

The National Study of New Professionals in Student Affairs is a year-long study of the transition of 90 new professionals to their first full-time job in the field. Data collection for this qualitative study was conducted monthly through an online survey system. We report findings of the study that bear on graduate program curricula,…

This two-report volume was prepared to describe approaches for evaluating individual Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP) demonstration projects in the future and to aid demonstration project directors in project planning and development. The first report focuses on the role of planning and evaluation activities, stressing their importance in…

Five performance measures suggested for use in public libraries are discussed in relation to corporate information centers: corporate awareness of library services; clients as percentage of jurisdiction population; reference transactions per capita; reference fill rate; timeliness of information delivery. Planning and survey questionnaires for…

Use of online bibliographic databases as ready-reference sources was evaluated in five-month study at three reference areas in University of Arizona Library. Equipment and training requirements were analyzed, and statistics were collected on databases searched, costs per search, question type, and patron and staff reactions. Ready-reference…

Supplemental Educational Services (SES), a component of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, provides free tutoring to economically disadvantaged children who are attending Title I schools in their 2nd or more years of school improvement. This research evaluated SES in Tennessee to determine the: (a) impacts on student achievement, and (b)…

This research review analyzes output measures that assess the effectiveness of a library's reference services: reference questions, reference staff performance, reference users, combined output measures, and combined input/output measures. The need for research, a definition of reference effectiveness, and input measures are noted. Seventy-three…

The two reports presented here describe an 18-month project intended to review and evaluate the first year's activities of the Office of Telecommunications Policy's (OTP) Telecommunications Demonstration Program for the delivery of social and health services; develop approaches for evaluating individual demonstration programs in the future;…

Both evaluation and planning typically begin with an attempt to define the conceptual territory of interest; this paper presents an approach to such conceptualization. The term, structured conceptualization, is used to refer to any definable set of procedures which can help a user develop a useful conceptual representation. Structured…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…