This paper presents a case for the use of causal models derived from a substantive knowledge base of theory and research in the evaluation of educational programs. An evaluation of the Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM) illustrates the causal-modeling approach to program evaluation. (BW)

This booklet contains questions and answers about random assignment in program evaluation and intervention research. The main purpose of program evaluation research in education is to determine whether programs help the students they are designed to serve and whether new ideas for education programs still under development are worthy of extension…

This paper introduces some recent changes by the current administration that are increasing the visibility of program evaluation in Washington and then describes some concerns raised by this new attention. The paper also suggests ways that evaluators can assist federal decision makers in using evaluation results wisely. Over the past decade,…

State child welfare systems need to invest significant resources developing training programs that build knowledge and skill levels of the child welfare workforce. Often these training programs have produced only limited results, perhaps because the training is not linked directly to the knowledge and skills necessary to perform complex human…

This toolkit presents a collection of accessible guidelines, measures, and tools to guide and implement evaluation of parenting education and support interventions. Designed primarily for people who are new to evaluation, it contains additional advice and guidance for those with a higher level of understanding or knowledge and it may also be…

This paper describes the methods engaged in by an internal evaluation unit within a large school district to transition program staff from participating in a formal program evaluation to continuing the responsibility of program monitoring once an evaluation ends. Formal multiyear program evaluations can provide program managers and staff with…

The "CSE Program Evaluation Kit" is a series of nine books intended to assist people conducting program evaluations. This volume, the second in the kit, provides advice about planning an evaluation--from deciding on the major questions the evaluation is intended to address, through the general approach--and identifying the principal…

After DePaul University initiated program review, a new strategic plan, learning goals, and outcomes assessment, the decision was made to extend the data provided to manage departments and colleges. Rather than initiating yet another new project, meeting the need for more information was accomplished by creating a program portfolio. This paper…

Cluster evaluations have been defined as involving multiple sites, focusing on longer term projects, involving substantially different approaches to similar problems, and improving the social condition. Cluster evaluation is illustrated through the description of an initiative funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation called the Leadership for…

Many colleges and universities use a mathematics placement process to guide students to the appropriate entry-level mathematics course. The mathematics placement process presented here was developed over a four year period to make placement recommendations to Calculus I, Precalculus, and College Algebra. Placement recommendations are based on the…

This paper describes Innovation Configuration (IC) Mapping as an approach for assessing the extent of implementation of a program. An IC Map is similar metaphorically to a road map in that it summarizes different ways of getting from one point to another. Each map consists of basic units, or components, that can be made operational in a number of…

Because of a lack of locally worked-out theory, school methods are often the wrong ones for the specific situation, says this writer. (GB)

Four types of evaluation (context, input, process, and output) are distinguished and applied to the UNESCO program of functional literacy, bringing out some of the special problems of building evaluation systems for broad-impact programs. Each project must build its own evaluation system based on its needs, priorities, and resources. (SC)

There's more work for teachers who must compute and record laboratory and classroom grades. School using computerized registration could extend the use of these computers to processing and recording students' examination scores. (Final grades for four classes of forty students each were obtained at a total cost of seventy cents.) (Author/AJ)