Introduces a new section for this journal devoted to teaching evaluation that intends to disseminate effective teaching strategies to the broad community of practicing evaluators. Articles for the planned section will focus on evaluation teaching and training in diverse environments. (SLD)

Describes a program evaluation system in which the review of programs' definitions of success serve as indicators of stated goals and changes in programs. Review of definitions of success of eight programs suggests information that programs want to use in making decisions across the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delinquency prevention services. (SLD)

Explores the challenges of performance measurement in the context of political and resource pressures that frame the demand and supply of program evaluation. Professional evaluators must be resourceful and efficient in using their intellectual and persuasive powers to enlighten politicians and the public about program theory and effective…

Review of economics, industrial psychology, financial, and human resource development (HRD) literature was used to develop a systems approach to measuring return on investment in which HRD is a subsystem within the overall organizational system. The approach isolates non-HRD impacts and demonstrates applicability of statistical and mathematical…

Discusses the ethical dilemmas related to computer-mediated evaluation. These include issues of anonymity, privacy, confidentiality, informed consent, the disposition of data, and "distance" evaluation. Among the challenges is the development of new notions of professional identity and responsibility. (SLD)

Conducted a large-scale evaluation of the Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP) to provide information about this widely used approach. This six-year impact evaluation, which considered more than 4,410 families, shows that CCDP's case-management approach, which is costly, does not lead to improved outcomes for parents or children. (SLD)

Offers guidelines for choosing a structured open-ended interview as a tool in program evaluation. Provides three cases to demonstrate how interviews can be used to gather important evaluative information. (DDR)

How paradoxical that evaluation, the main purpose of which is to establish value, often seems to return to the lowest value of anything that people do! Too commonly, in the authors' experience, evaluation is avoided or paid as little attention as possible. Due to its typically unloved nature, evaluation can be trapped in a low-level, minimalist…

The laudatory goal of evaluation capacity building is quite timely, given the spotlight on the potential use of program evaluation in the current environment which emphasizes performance reporting and evidence-based policy. A question that quickly comes to mind is: Where do you start? A seemingly reasonable starting point is to assess…

In early 2002, Jean King, Mel Mark, Robin Miller, and Stacey Stockdill began a project to conduct oral history interviews with individuals who have made signal contributions to the program evaluation field and those well-placed observers who were present at and played a role in pivotal moments in the field. In developing this project, it is our…

Recounts the author's experiences as a graduate student in social psychology at Northwestern University at the time the training program for program evaluation was being established. Explains the importance of the early training for the evaluator's career. (SLD)

Certain challenges are inherent in collecting data to evaluate nonformal education programs and settings. One challenge relates to the complexity of the educational system in which nonformal learning takes place. Separating the learning effects of a nonformal education program on participants from the effects of other essential elements of their…

The opportunity that evaluators have to be educators is well known. Patton emphatically states, "Every interaction with an evaluation client, participant, stakeholder, and user is a teaching opportunity." This article discusses two ways in which evaluators can help educate the staff of nonformal programs: helping them articulate the theory that…

This monograph is intended to encourage policy formation and appropriate interventions for young children with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). After an introductory chapter, the second chapter analyzes policy within the areas of both behavioral disorders and early intervention, including existing labels and eligibility criteria, reluctance…

This collection of materials was gathered as part of a project to develop and implement a faculty training institute for early intervention personnel in 12 states in the Northeast. The project's emphasis was to train interdisciplinary faculty to infuse basic early intervention content into existing course work, develop new course work or modify…