It is a matter of concern when large, federally funded programs are evaluated using designs that produce misleading information. In this article, we discuss problems associated with an evaluation design that was adopted by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to document the performance of a major early…

Conducted a large-scale evaluation of the Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP) to provide information about this widely used approach. This six-year impact evaluation, which considered more than 4,410 families, shows that CCDP's case-management approach, which is costly, does not lead to improved outcomes for parents or children. (SLD)

Discusses current issues in theory-driven evaluation from the perspective of the evaluation practice literature. Confirmatory program evaluation is proposed as one way to use theory, in combination with quantitative analytical techniques, to assess the effects of social and educational programs. An illustration is provided in the evaluation of a…

Identifies strengths and weaknesses of the study of the Comprehensive Child Development Program and draws evaluative conclusions based on the analysis. Cites lack of stakeholder involvement and pilot studies as a weaknesses of the evaluation but notes the general quality of the effort. (SLD)

This study investigates how program evaluation has contributed to the definition of quality in early childhood programs and what social and cultural conditions have influenced these definitions. First, a review of evaluation reports from the last 3 decades identified three types of quality used to evaluate early childhood programs: (a)…