Over the past 7 years, the Oral History Project Team has conducted interviews with individuals who have made signal contributions to evaluation theory and practice, tracing their professional development and contextualizing their work within the social and political climates of the time. By capturing the professional evolution of those who have…

Traditional methods for preparing systematic reviews and syntheses of effectiveness studies rely on a limited set of methodological criteria to include studies that measure and report effects too narrowly to forward the mission of evidence-based practice. This article discusses why and how the criteria for study selection, evidence screening, and…

This commentary focuses on the promises and challenges facing the Social and Character Development (SACD) consortium in evaluating the effectiveness of seven universal SACD programs designed to enhance student behavior and school climate under conditions of real world practice. In this commentary, we highlight that the opportunity costs associated…

Over the past 6 years, the Oral History Project Team has conducted interviews with individuals who have influenced the theory and practice of evaluation. In 2006, Robin Miller, with the help of Christian Coryn of The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University (WMU), and Daniela Schroeter, also at the Center, sat down with widely regarded…

Describes two methodological approaches (qualitative and quantitative) that grow out of two different research examples. Suggests the problems these methods present. Discusses the ways in which an awareness of these problems can help teachers to understand how to work with researchers in designing useful evaluations of writing programs. (PRA)

Describes a framework, or process, for determining the value of a reading/language arts program--a model for program evaluation. (MG)

A generic model provides a conceptual framework that can be used for guiding systematic observation about programs and about the learning conditions needed for cooperative education. These investigations could provide information critical for the modification of existing practices and create more consistent practice. (Author/JOW)

Evaluations of five youth-leadership programs integrated research and practice; findings were documented, analyzed, and shared with staff so that improvements could be made immediately. Staff provided feedback to broaden their understanding and ensure that research focused on critical issues. (Author/JOW)

Presents a reaction to major contribution articles from this issue of "The Counseling Psychologist" (2000, [this issue]). Highlights important concepts that call for the field of counseling psychology to go "back to basics," including identity issues; the scope of prevention; prevention evaluation research; preventive…

Describes a Master's course in accounting that involved practitioners as members of the class who led discussion on an area in which they had expertise. (JOW)

In program evaluation and policy analyses, utility supplants rigor as the first and most important criterion in judging literature reviews. Although R. T. Ogawa and B. Malen emphasize rigor, a utilization-focused evaluation emphasizes purpose and audience, both of which affect the conduct of a multivocal literature review. (SLD)

During the past 3 years, the Oral History Project Study Team, which comprises Jean King, Mel Mark, and Robin Miller, has conducted interviews with individuals who have made signal contributions to the program evaluation field. Their goal was to capture the professional evolution of those who have contributed to the way evaluation in the United…

Special education classes for significantly subaverage students, sometimes called the "handicapped," have proved, through scientific inquiry, to be no more successful and much more costly than regular classes. This has resulted in the de-emphasis of some unsuccessful programs, such as institutionalization and self-contained segregated classrooms.…

This paper introduces an alternative to the conventional "method-oriented" approach to evaluation of interventions with people having profound/multiple intellectual disabilities (PMPID). The proposed approach uses the principles of theory-driven evaluation, based on a program theory which specifies what must be done to achieve the desired goals,…

Describes outdoor education students' developmental needs for belongingness, acceptance, care and friendship, praise and recognition, responsibility, self-respect, creativity, achievement, and new experiences. Explains how upward, outward, forward, and downward models of personal growth can be linked to developmental needs to enhance and evaluate…