Ronald Hughes, Judith Rycus, and their colleagues have produced a seminal review of differential response (DR) programs implemented across the nation. Their review questions nearly every aspect of the DR movement, beginning with the concept on which all DR programs are based and ending with serious concerns about the quality of evaluations…

This paper presents the author's comment on "Evaluation Field Building in South Asia: Reflections, Anecdotes, and Questions" by Katherine Hay. Hay raises a number of extremely relevant issues relating to evaluation field building in South Asia. In this paper, the author aims to underscore the importance of three priorities for initiating…

The papers in this dialogue help develop evaluation as a field (both in South Asia and other regions). What comes through in all of the papers is both humility of where evaluation is as a field and imagination and ambition of where evaluators could be in the near future. Reading the papers in this forum makes them enthusiastic about being…

It is familiar in the world of systems building that funders start out saying they are not particularly interested in attribution, only to later begin using words like "prove" and "impact." Boards begin by asking for intelligent reflection from the 30,000-foot level and then suddenly want to know how many more children are ready for school.…

Are the five states that are participating in the Great Start project, in fact, off to a Great Start? The simple answer from a casual read of this excellent case study appears to be "yes." Any early learning initiative that begins with a scientific evaluation is off to a great start. Sadly, some public and private funders have begun early learning…

This paper is a reflection on practice. It begins by briefly describing an evaluation of an externally-funded education programme in Kosovo (a new country in south-east Europe). The programme was managed by Save the Children in Kosovo and aimed to develop and promote models of inclusive education through three strands of activity. The first of…

This special series focused on treatment integrity in the child mental health and education field is timely. The articles do a laudable job of reviewing (a) the current status of treatment integrity research and measurement, (b) existing conceptual models of treatment integrity, and (c) the limitations of prior research. Overall, this thoughtful…

Values and beliefs underlying assumptions concerning the independent evaluations of persons and programs involved in the educational process are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on M. Scriven's treatise on bias in evaluation (1976). Works by E. R. House, R. E. Stake, L. Stenhouse, M. Parlett and D. Hamilton, and D. L. Stufflebeam are also…

Taking the position that science is not value-free has certain consequences. There are both risks and rewards inherent when evaluators relinquish an objective, non-involved role for a more subjective, partisan role in an evaluation where issues of class, gender, and race are intertwined. It is important for evaluators to consider how their…

Kirkpatrick's highly popular model of training evaluation criteria proposed four ascending, causally related, and positively intercorrelated levels: reactions, learning, behavior, and results. This article examines the validity of the three problematic assumptions of the model, the frequency of each level in published evaluation studies,…

Describes recent developments in United Kingdom politics that have affected development of evidence-based policy for children. Examines the notion of "what works," leading to a suggestion that evaluators be concerned with "what is worth doing" for children. Considers robustness as a guiding principle for evaluation design and…

It has been two years since the Evaluation Research Society (ERS) published its Standards for Program Evaluation. The standards have influenced professional activities, such as panel discussions, and have been useful in training evaluators. However, the question arises as to whether the standards have been consulted by practicing evaluators or…

The evaluator's roles--change agent, manager, resource person, interpreter, and liaison between the project and the funding agency--are described, concerning the evaluation of innovative projects in education. Difficulties in obtaining desired commitments (i.e., a project's financial commitments and its positive attitude toward the evaluation…

Factors that influence the effectiveness of program evaluation in higher education and eight recommendations for program evaluation are considered. Currently, program evaluation is characterized by negotiation because of three powerful concepts: the nature of multiple constructions and multiple realities; the influence of power distributions…

The concept of treatment integrity cuts across a diversity of fields involved with providing treatments or interventions to individuals. In medical treatments, the concept of "treatment compliance" or "treatment adherence" is an important and problematic issue. In the field of nutrition, the concept of "dietary adherence" is important for…