Many problems are encountered when evaluating a complex, decentralized national program such as 4-H. Good effects of the federal evaluation mandate include local concern with program quality. Bad effects include that local agencies are forced to utilize noxious methodologies or to collect information they consider to be unimportant. (Author/GC)

Policy implications stemming from empirical analyses that evaluate national federal compensatory programs are clouded because negative findings could be due to either the nature of the educational process or the inadequacy of the data collection and analysis technique. This paper constructs a framework within which the separate effects of each are…

The 'rural' definitions applied by the Federal Government, especially by two data-gathering agencies, the Bureau of the Census and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), emphasize different dimensions of the concept, and delineate the rural-urban continuum in different ways. This report discusses the inconsistency of curent "rural"…

Severe methodological problems were encountered in an attempt to investigate the impact of Education Division programs on girls and women--and, in particular, to learn whether these programs have a differential impact by sex or by race/ethnicity. (The "Education Division" comprises the Office of Education, the National Institute of…

American migrant and seasonal agricultural workers are a population needing categorical assistance due to low income, difficult working and living conditions, and a mobile lifestyle. The purpose of this study was to identify, describe, and analyze federally funded migrant services. This study, based on interviews with program officials and…

THE NATURE OF THE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES OF 56 PROJECTS WAS REVIEWED TO FIND WHY USEFUL NEW KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PROBLEMS WAS NOT RESULTING FROM THE PROGRAMS. ALSO ANALYZED WAS THE UTILITY OF FOLLOWUP STUDIES FOR GAINING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROJECTS. BOTH SUBJECTS OF INQUIRY WERE CONSIDERED AGAINST THE…

At the request of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement, the Panel to Evaluate the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was established in 1985 by the National Academy of Sciences. This report culminates an extensive two-year study of NCES and reflects the panel's broad view of the center's…

The movement toward integration of qualitative and quantitative research methods within the same study has been most evident in social policy research. Four major approaches to integrating can be identified in recent studies. The sequential, the parallel, and the fused models have been rather widely used. The interactive model, developed during…

Throwing the proverbial monkey wrench into the machinery "on paper" before a system begins functioning seems to be essential to program evaluation. This activity should be performed by the "resident skeptic" who is familiar with past resistance to change and who, being familiar with a program, is able to foresee theoretical and…