This chapter explores how the structure of large complex organizations such as Cooperative Extension affects their ability to support internal evaluation of their programs and activities. Following a literature review of organizational structure and its relation to internal evaluation capacity, the chapter presents the results of interviews with…

The Director of the Program Evaluation and Methodology Division of the U.S. General Accounting Office discusses how evaluators and evaluation sponsors can become more sensitized to the organizational and political influences that shape the use of evaluation information in decision making. Job Training Partnership Act practitioners look at the…

Evaluation occurs within existing programs and power arrangements of complex organizations. It may develop as a licensed concession within a program or as an expression of a concession made to the ideal of rational decision making. The formation of professional career paths in evaluation may lead to career immobility. (Author/MH)

The authors focus on the organizational context of training evaluation and discuss the following main themes: What organizational factors need to be considered? What sort of objectivity can evaluation studies aspire to? What can training gain from approaches to evaluation originating outside the training literature? (CT)

Rational college planning approaches presuppose certain organizational characteristics such as a predictable environment, stable programs, and some consensus on priorities. Institutions with these characteristics will use rational planning models more easily. The experiences of two different universities using a common, rational model are…

A large urban school district has undertaken the development of an Educational Management System and monitored the impact of the administrative innovations on organizational climate. The participation of both teachers and administrators in management and decisionmaking is complemented by periodic assessment of progress in accomplishing the…

Report of a primary school principal's decision to use the Clark and Guba classification scheme to enlist the co-operation and collaboration of teachers in changing the existing graded" organization of pupils. (Author/JH)

As part of a project to learn more about the technical assistance process of helping high needs schools to develop the organizational capacity to support effective school performance, this study examined changes after two years of technical assistance delivery in a high needs school district. The district was in a rural area with one elementary…

The question, "Do planning techniques make a difference, and if so, to whom, and for what purpose?" was addressed by studying master planning, resource allocation, and program evaluation in several large, research-oriented universities. Observations regarding perceived utility and problems associated with these activities are discussed.…

In this paper, the authors report on a project designed to enhance an educational system's capability for introducing and regenerating change and to develop and evaluate one specific strategy for implementing "second generation" planned change. The operation model views teachers as the key variable in the introduction of planned change.…

Presented is a comprehensive guide to college planning principles and strategies designed for administrators new to the instructional planning function. An introductory section encourages new planners to understand the characteristics of planning and successful planners, understand different types of planning, appreciate the importance of all of…

Trends in state budgeting agencies' staffs, roles, functions and relative power, interagency relationships and relative power, and the effects of professional staffing on budget policy and on democratic practice and decision-making are considered. The following three types of legislative staffs that impinge directly on budget decisions are…

This book, which is intended as a resource for individuals and organizations involved in adult and community education, presents guidelines and activities to assist in enhancing organizational effectiveness in adult and community education. The following are among the topics discussed: (1) experiencing professional and organizational development…