Describes two evaluation studies that faced ethical problems because of an atmosphere of promotion and advocacy. One was the evaluation of a teachers' professional-development program, and the other was an evaluation of a federally funded youth sports program. The realization and resolution of ethical conduct must come from within the evaluator.…

The education evaluation efforts of the federal government are discussed, focusing on the question of their effectiveness in informing the policymaking process. Successful evaluation criteria are outlined. An evaluation must provide useful information to policymakers to be a success. (DWH)

The focus is on problems and issues common to both social program evaluation and to evaluation in physical sciences, engineering, medicine, and commerce. Problems discussed include: program implementation; anticipation of success or failure; evaluation data quality; reliability and validity; evaluation design; access to data; data confidentiality;…

The influence of two studies--the Westinghouse-Ohio and Consortium for Longitudinal Studies evaluations--on Project Head Start are discussed. The associations of one evaluation with program contraction and the other with program expansion are analyzed in terms of differences in findings, study credibility, climate of opinion, and dissemination of…