Evaluators may attempt to form particular relationships with their clients in order to increase the probability that the evaluation findings will be used for decision making. The evaluator's interest in this relationship should not overshadow the importance of ensuring the validity of reported results. (Author/GDC)

Ethical problems in program evaluation are increased when conflicting or incompatible models are applied concurrently. Three models are illustrated: an amelioration model, for a program's own decision makers; an accountability model, focusing on public data disclosure; and an advocacy model, designed to advance the program's interest. Case…

Good evaluation shares much with good teaching. What makes an evaluation useful can depend on qualities of teaching brought to the evaluator's role. (Available from: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 433 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104, single issue, $6.95.) (Author)

Suggestions for broadening the utilization of evaluation research findings are discussed. Major program changes, based on evaluation, may not become obvious for several years; program actions may contradict findings and still be based on rational decision making processes; evaluation findings may have far-reaching effects which were not recognized…

The impact of professional jargon and data-based statements in evaluation reports on audience responses to an evaluation report and an evaluator's recommendations was examined. Subjects read one of four evaluation reports about testing and grading procedures in a school program. The reports varied in the amount of jargon and data used to justify…

To examine the impact of program evaluation information upon decision making, case studies were conducted of five different programs: (1) a diagnostic teaching kindergarten program (K-LEAD), funded under the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I; (2) Project MORE, an ESEA Title IV-C funded junior high school program dealing with school…

Involving producing, analyzing, and using information, evaluation is the central discipline of the information age. Both traditional criteria for good evaluation and standards formulated in 1981 prescribe evaluations that are useful, practical, ethical, and accurate. The burning question in evaluation is the utilization of information for…

The Franklin Pierce School District, a semi-rural, semi-urban district located south of Tacoma, Washington, was one of the Experimental School Projects (ESP) initially funded by the National Institute of Education. The Franklin Pierce ESP provides an optimal learning environment for each student, with special emphasis placed upon transient,…

The study summarizes discussions and conclusions of the Regional Workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation of Rural Development Projects in East Africa (Nairobi, Kenya, April 1979), whose purpose was to share lessons learned from field experiences in managing information for rural development. An initial section summarizes information in papers…