Achieving coherence and integration across staff professional development activities is facilitated when training, coaching and staff evaluation are guided by a clearly articulated program theory or "theory of change" that describes how skillful practice promotes desired outcomes. We focus on a theory of change for wraparound, a widely implemented…

In this paper, the author considers certain aspects of the problem of obtaining unbiased information about the merits of a program or product, whether for purposes of decision making or for accountability. The evaluation of personnel, as well as the evaluation of proposals and evaluations, generally involves a different set of problems than those…

"Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications" is designed for evaluators and students who need to develop a commanding knowledge of the evaluation field: its history, theory and standards, models and approaches, procedures, and inclusion of personnel as well as program evaluation. This important book shows how to choose from a growing…

Provides an overview of evaluation checklists and describes 10 checklists for program, personnel, and product evaluations that were developed to be available to evaluators through the World Wide Web. (SLD)

The establishment of a performance evaluation system at Los Meganos Intermediate School in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District has resulted, at this time, not in a full evaluation system, but instead in a series of guidelines which might be of use to others pursuing similar objectives. (Author)

Draws lessons in contracting for evaluations from the 1995 evaluation of a U.S. Marine Corps personnel evaluation system and a 1991 evaluation of the procedures for setting cutting scores of the National Assessment Governing Board of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. These national, politically sensitive evaluations provide lessons…

The return on investment for assessment centers is likely to be very high, and, more importantly, it can and should be estimated prior to assessment center design and implementation. (Author/IRT)

More traditional kinds of research per se are not needed: what is needed is more evaluation. Clarifies some of the terminology, illustrates some of the characteristic differences between evaluation and research, provides five basic steps to good evaluation. (Author/HMV)

Comments on school evaluation are divided into the following categories--(1) program goals and objectives of the schools, (2) staff--age, sex, experience, preparation, and problem of retaining good teachers, (3) administration and their application to district organization, (4) finance--an outline of how a foundation program operates, and comments…

Presents a model for developing a strategy for training evaluation, according to the purpose of the evaluation or who is being evaluated. (MF)

This article discusses the role of the auditor and describes a seven-stage training audit model currently being employed by a multinational United Kingdom bank. Stages include familiarization, auditing the client, auditing the program, auditing the program organizer, auditing the consumer, presenting the report, and tasking action agencies. (CT)

Because of the Goals 200 Quality Improvement program of the federal government, Head Start agencies are being held more accountable for their employees and the overall operation of their program. To evaluate these more effectively, agencies need an effective employee evaluation instrument. Strategies were implemented in an agency that provides…

The assessment center can be a mechanism for providing a highly sophisticated evaluation of the training effort. The article describes how the training manager can successfully incorporate the assessment center concept into an overall training evaluation strategy. (Author/MW)

Addresses a variety of plans on how to formulate and conduct program evaluation. Describes the Stufflebeam et al. generalized evaluation design, the Howard and Lee five-step evaluation model, and a step-by-step procedures model. Also identifies 10 principles for evaluating performance appraisal systems. (CT)