This collection of seven short articles discusses the role of naturalistic observation in program evaluation. There are criteria that evaluators explicitly or implicitly use to reach conclusions. These papers discuss these criteria and try to determine what constitutes legitimate evaluation knowledge. (RB)

The traditional experimental-control group method for evaluating delinquency prevention programs is questioned. It is contended that the method harms the intervention and exacerbates the deliquency problem. (JKS)

To advance educational innovation, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education supports a practitioner-based action research approach to educational improvement through project reporting, conferences, project clusters, Lessons Learned publications, feedback, policy revisions, and dissemination grants. The fund attempts to sustain a…

Dissemination strategies used in vocational and adult education are described; and the criteria used within each strategy to classify, label, or screen content are discussed. The extent to which consumers are supplied with quality and effectiveness information is discussed, and directions for future dissemination efforts are reviewed. (SLD)

Dissemination approaches of the U.S. Department of Education are explored in the context of federal efforts to recognize the best, considering relatively systematic approaches to recognition and the five vulnerable evaluation areas of (1) undefined universes; (2) noncomparable goals; (3) identifying reproducible conditions; (4) saturation; and (5)…

Two approaches for identifying, evaluating, and disseminating materials are discussed. One is the National Diffusion Network and its Program Effectiveness Panel, and the other is the Committee on Education and Human Resources, a new interagency effort with potential for examining a large body of generally underutilized mathematics and science…

As part of the Chapter 1 program, the U.S. Department of Education conducts research activities and uses nominations from a variety of sources to identify promising practices and document their success. The department disseminates this information through its award process in the Chapter 1 School Recognition Program. (SLD)

The nine articles of this special section focus on the role of evaluation in the reform of the mental health system in Washington. The reform process is described from its inception through its design to the dissemination and utilization of evaluation results. The final article considers implications for statewide evaluations. (SLD)