Evaluation capacity building (ECB) is an essential element for generating credible and actionable evidence on Extension programs. This paper offers a discussion of ECB efforts in Cooperative Extension and how such efforts enable Extension professionals to collect and use credible and actionable evidence on the quality and impacts of programs.…

Family literacy initiatives are historically rooted in positivism. In relationship to family literacy, the positivist paradigm is dangerous, as it strips the participants of power and removes their opportunities for voice. In response, a socially just approach to family literacy intervention is offered here. This approach embraces the context of…

The University of Missouri Extension needed to develop an annual program review process that collaboratively engaged county-level stakeholders. The results from the first 2 years highlight the results, challenges, and implications of the design process. The annual review process needs to be adaptive, responsive, and reflective from year to year…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

Evaluators face challenges when programs consistently fail to meet expectations for performance or improvement and consequently, evaluators may recommend that closing a program is the most prudent course of action. However, the evaluation literature provides little guidance regarding when an evaluator might recommend program closure. Given…

Matching Needs and Services (MNS) is a practice tool intended to help people who work with vulnerable children use rigorously assembled information on needs as a guide to design, implement, and evaluate more-effective services. To do this, MNS focuses on needs but links them to outcomes and thresholds before dealing with the services to achieve…

This is a call for community psychologists to engage in research, consultation, and program development and evaluation in supporting military families and communities. Barriers to such involvement are identified and discussed. It is argued that the needs of military families and communities cannot be ignored when military and civilian communities…

Organizations value the business impact and benefits that accompany e-learning, such as workforce effectiveness, reduced training costs, and improved workforce retention (Taylor, 2001). However, although justifying the value of evaluation is clear, "e-learning evaluations often do not receive the priority that they deserve" (Tanquist, 2000, p. 1).…

On June 9, 2005, the Board of Governors adopted the State University System of Florida Strategic Plan 2005-2013. This plan provides for a systematic and ongoing evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of state universities. As established in the Strategic Plan, goals for the system for 2012-2013 include: Goal 1: Access to and production of…

This document describes a program at the University of Maryland-Educational Opportunity Center (UM-EOC) in College Park that fulfills a legislative mandate to provide information on and assistance to 1,500 adults, two-thirds of whom will be low-income, first-generation college participants who reside in 13 targeted communities in Prince George's…