Knowledge brokering is a promising practice for addressing the challenge of using research evidence, including evaluation findings, in policy implementation. For public policy practitioners, it means playing the role of an intermediary who steers the flow of knowledge between producers (researchers) and users (decision makers). It requires a set…

We conducted a youth participatory evaluation of a bullying prevention curriculum before the curriculum was implemented in communities. We partnered with youths from a young women leaders' program to reduce the number of lessons in an existing curriculum and determine which activities were likely to have the greatest impact. To evaluate the…

Increasing demands for accountability in educational programming have resulted in increasing calls for program evaluation in educational organizations. Many organizations include conducting program evaluations as part of the job responsibilities of program staff. Cooperative Extension is a complex organization offering non-formal educational…

This case study uses evidence collected for accreditation and programme improvement at a small university Master's and certification programme in Educational Leadership Development to describe efforts to help leadership candidates use data during the programme's final internship experience. Programme features supporting the growth of candidates'…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Origins of the WASC Assessment Leadership Academy; (2) Editor's Notes: Parallel Paths to Progress in Assessment in Europe and the United States; (3) The Impact of the First Three Years of the WASC Assessment Leadership Academy; (4) Restructuring the Writing Program at…

Across the United States, teachers and teacher educators are facing increased accountability for improved student achievement. Using assessment results to inform instruction provides a catalyst to improve student outcomes and is a key skill for preservice teacher candidates. The process of data-based decision making is integral to performance…

Just one of the ways career and technical education (CTE) is revamping its image is through increased attention to data-driven instructional techniques as a means of improving and focusing instruction on what matters most. Accountability and data have increasingly become a core focus of research, news, and commentary about education in recent…

Asserts that pursuing use as the defining goal of evaluation can distort the allocation of evaluation resources and reduce the contributions of evaluation to broader social goals, such as social betterment. Pursuing use can result in an overemphasis on evaluations oriented toward program improvement at the expense of assessment of worth and other…

The seven chapters of this volume demonstrate that evaluation evidence can overturn widely held beliefs and result in changes in programs and policies. These chapters show that policymakers can welcome findings that challenge long-established ideas and use them to Improve programs and services. (SLD)

Refutes three evaluation myths--(1) evaluation is findings; (2) outcomes are hard to measure; and (3) evaluation is an add-on--with three principles: (1) evaluation is a learning process; (2) soft data about important issues are better than hard data about unimportant issues; and (3) meaningful evaluation is integrated into teaching and learning.…

It is common practice to associate recommendations for program improvement with evaluation reports. In this article, several classes of recommendations are identified, and aspects of one class are explored in some detail. Consideration is given to certain logical, methodological, and practical issues relating to the derivation of recommendations…

Differing views about the success evaluators have had in improving programs directly are contrasted. It is suggested that evaluation, even when decisions are not based directly on evaluation outcomes, should represent continuing education for program managers, planners, and policy makers with probable impact in the future. (SLD)

Evaluability assessment is a diagnostic and prescriptive technique that can be used to determine the extent to which different problems inhibit program evaluation. It involves policymakers, managers, and staff in developing program theory, clarifying intended uses of evaluation information, and planning further evaluations that would stimulate…

The evaluation of second language programs is an educational task with profound potential for improving pedagogical practice. Evaluators who educate perform more than just a "service" function by helping people to learn, develop themselves, and refine their abilities to work more effectively. (CB)

Used nationwide data to examine how schools assess educational outcomes and integrate evaluation data into master's of social work (MSW) program and curriculum development. Also identifies key difficulties which programs report having encountered in addressing the Council on Social Work Education's former Evaluative Standards 1.4 and 1.5…