Reflects on empowerment evaluation, the use of evaluation to foster improvement and self-determination. Empowerment evaluation uses quantitative and qualitative methods, and usually focuses on program evaluation. Discusses the growth in empowerment evaluation as a result of interest in participatory evaluation. (SLD)

Limiting data collection to a sample group is one way to increase effectiveness in dealing with data. The paper describes how to draw a sample group (random sampling, stratified random sampling, purposeful sampling, and convenient or opportunity sampling) and discusses how to determine the size of the sample group. (SM)

Discusses what it means to be a caring stakeholder and a participatory evaluator in the context of public and private domains using the example of a parent who is an evaluator of an afterschool program. Offers a perspective on the capacity of individual evaluators to deal with role strain. (SLD)

Discusses how a time-series approach was used in the evaluation of the impact of California Senate Bill 2669 on child maltreatment reports. Describes the factors that influenced decisions about evaluation methods and the selection of outcome and exogenous measures. Recommends actions that would facilitate the implementation of evaluations of this…

Presents an overview of the concepts and methods employed by outcome researchers evaluating intervention effectiveness in child welfare, and the problems associated with these methods that make their use by agencies impractical. Discusses concepts of statistical significance, effect size, and the meaningfulness of effects. Emphasizes the need for…

On the basis of activities of a federally funded national center for school mental health, review of literature on principles for best practice in child and adolescent mental health and school health, and consultation with national experts and family members, a set of 10 principles for best practice in school mental health was developed. A survey…

In Manatee County, Florida, not only did they build career tech programs into career academies, but they also developed an evaluation process to ensure these career academies were credible. A District Academic team created the "Documentation of Academy Assessment Criteria" with 12 core components and a rubric that helps evaluators…

Following every unfortunate and tragic school shooting is an accompanying cry for moral/character/values education, in the belief that such teaching could have prevented the tragedy. Society decries the rising statistical evidence of the apparent lack of values and character demonstrated by youth as evidenced by soaring crime rates among very…

This chapter reviews resources from scholars, practitioners, and policymakers on benchmarking in community colleges.

Teacher collaboration has become an legitimate service delivery option for students with disabilities and students at risk for learning and/or behavior problems. Notwithstanding its growing popularity, there is little empirical research on the fidelity of implementation of intervention plans that stem from professional collaboration. The modest…

Data limitations severe enough to undermine the validity of findings discomfort evaluators whenever they occur. Unfortunately, such occurrences are not infrequent, faced not only by a "freshly minted graduate of a respected doctoral program in evaluation" but also by seasoned professionals (Bamberger, Rugh, & Mabry, forthcoming). Data may be…

The purpose of this article is to put in the hands of researchers, practitioners, and policy makers a powerful framework for building and studying the effects of high-quality assessment and accountability programs. The framework is illustrated through a description and analysis of the assessment and accountability program in the School District of…

Describes the conceptual scheme for a 1-year evaluation course designed to each the competencies required to conduct evaluations that provide the sense-making for informed decision making. Draws on the authors' experience in developing such a course over 4 years. (SLD)

Describes the training in program evaluation received at Northwestern University and the ways in which that training and the program experience have influenced the career of an evaluator working for the federal government. (SLD)

Important findings are often a balance between the rigor of the experimental design and innovativeness of the experimental question. One broad topic area that has received a great deal of discussion, but little empirical study, is the evaluation of educational systems. Experimental designs that permit the analysis of practices used by state…