This handbook was developed to provide managers working with the National Science Foundation (NSF) with a basic guide for the evaluation of NSF's educational programs. It is aimed at people who need to learn more about what evaluation can do and how to do an evaluation rather than those who already have a solid base of experience in the field.…

Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), as part of its regular operations, monitors client satisfaction, and seeks to sustain a process of informed decision making in the development and delivery of products and services. This report documents client satisfaction with McREL services as determined by participant evaluations.…

The evaluation of systemic educational reforms entails a paradigm shift among evaluators who must change the lens through which they look at the reforms. This paper proposes methodological and design alternatives to measure nontraditional outcomes, such as changes in policy, over the lifespan of the reforms. Systemic reforms include intended and…

More substantive evidence is needed of the impact of adult basic education programs. There are many indicators that might be used in evaluation--employment status, self concept, attitudes, level of living; this evaluation should be continuous and longitudinal. (PT)

An examination of recent trends in program evaluation suggests that such developments seem to arise from an expanding view of the role of program evaluation in educational improvement. The paper traces the impetus behind the evolving methodologies of program evaluation and examines the perspectives of evaluation under which they operate.

Evidence shows that evaluation practice is limited to direct support within training: little action takes place with other organizational units. Evaluation must have a significant role in the overall human resource function of an organization and must be a part of the planning function. (JOW)

Consequences of the bicultural goal are: (1) failure to review the unreasonable goal critically; (2) prevention of standardized scores from "leaking out" to the public; (3) attempts to "interpret" evaluation results to make them palatable to the schools' critics; and (4) lack of attention to various evaluation techniques. (RL)

A model for annual evaluations of a school system's gifted programs is presented. The evaluation should address objectives in five program goal areas: identification, curriculum, staff development, parent and community involvement, and the evaluation process itself. (DB)

PASS (Program Analysis of Service Systems) 3 is an instrument designed for use in the evaluation of any type of service system used by developmentally disabled clients. A factor analysis of the system yielded six rather than two factors, which clearly suggests that the scale taps more areas than previously realized. (PHR)

An EIPOL grid which combines five major dimensions of a broad-based evaluation system with different steps of a project cycle provides a basic operational framework for designing and adopting a more functional system of reform evaluation. (Editor)

Provides an evaluation model and outlines steps to take in planning for the evaluation process. Such planning and organizing ensures that the evaluation process is achieved systematically. (IRT)

The intent of this paper is to present a brief overview of the type of information that might be included in the applied learning technologist certificate program. (Author)

Two broad classes of mixed-method designs--component and integrated--that have the potential to combine elements of different inquiry traditions are described. The conceptual ideas advanced in the first chapter are illustrated through selected examples of several mixed-method integrated models. (Author/SLD)

A pragmatic framework for making decisions about mixed-method designs is proposed and then applied to illustrative evaluation case studies to help identify the strengths and limitations of making practical, contextual, and consequential considerations a primary basis for evaluation design decisions. (Author)