Conventional wisdom says that the way to win more awards is to get researchers writing more proposals. Yet many incentives designed to stimulate proposal development can be hard on the bottom line, especially those that pay researchers for their time or to attend grant-writing workshops presented by outside consulting firms. This paper presents…

Purpose: The expansion of alternative education, globally, has coincided with a shift towards greater accountability for ensuring educational access and opportunity, high academic standards and increased graduation rates. While studies suggest the pervasive influence of accountability may be redefining how school leaders provide meaningful…

After months of waiting, the grant reviews came back: "excellent," "excellent," and "fair." What?! How can this be? Why is the third review so out of line with the first two? On more than one occasion a principal investigator (PI) has been frustrated not only by a negative funding decision but more so by the accompanying reviewer evaluation forms…

This article describes the core features of outcome research and then explores issues confronting researchers who engage in outcome studies. Using an intervention research perspective, descriptive and explanatory methods are distinguished. Emphasis is placed on the counterfactual causal perspective, designing programs that fit culture and context,…

This publication is intended for three primary audiences: international development professionals who want to define "workforce" for program design purposes, those who seek information about field activities, and those who want to reflect on the implementation of successful, high impact programs--whether they were broad-based or…

The article suggests ways to make use of regression discontinuity to plan, implement, and evaluate gifted programs. It outlines how research data can illuminate rather than obscure program decisions. Making efficient use of multiple criteria identification data is discussed along with making program effectiveness decisions without using a control…

Outlines a 10-step process for designing performance improvement systems which is intended to reduce time spent on the project, to assure client approval, and to assure management support. Client participation with the consultant throughout the process is stressed as the key to success. (LRW)

This paper discusses the design of a program by the Nashville (Tennessee) Center for Independent Living (CIL) to train consumers with disabilities in employing, training, supervising, and firing personal attendants. The program, supported by the Tennessee Developmental Disabilities (DD) Planning Council, provided an opportunity for program design…

Program development evaluation should focus on articulating theoretical rationales for program design and activities. To assist the managers of 17 school-based delinquency prevention projects (School Action Effectiveness Study) in developing theories of action, the Program Development Evaluation (PDE) method was utilized. To construct the…

In response to increasing costs and growing reliance on external funding for college faculty research, a plan for promoting faculty success in gaining financial support for research is proposed. The plan is based on information in the literature concerning prerequisites for success in getting external support. (Author/MSE)

Described back-end synthesis as the creation and integration of the secondary intervention required for efficient and cost-effective implementation of performance improvement programs. Involving analysis, design, evaluation, revision, and implementation, this process is related to front-end analysis, and a sample application in a performance…

Project Follow Through involved a diverse and major set of implementation problems: (1) The initial program mandate for an action program clashed with the later switch to an experimental focus; (2) The selection of curriculum rather than structural changes as the major intervention led to greater uncertainty regarding the practices to be…

The effects of various gifted programs on the self-concepts and depressive symptoms of 82 gifted and talented fifth- and sixth-grade students were evaluated. Sixth-grade gifted groups (pull-out and self-contained) scored higher on self-concept than did nongifted groups. No effects on depressive symptoms were found. (DB)

Describes how two methodologies for analyzing and improving performance--performance engineering and organization mapping--were used in a case study involving the purchasing department of an electric utility. Highlights include the establishment of a model of the desired results, measuring existing performance, and the designing of an improvement…

In 1975, the Columbus Council of the Navy League of the United States provided a grant to The Ohio State University in support of a state survey to determine the level of understanding of marine information among the public school children of Ohio. In addition, it supported a summer workshop in the Humanities of the Seas conducted for teachers in…