As the demand for accountability grows, those in child and family practice are coping with an increasing emphasis on outcome measures. This book responds to the need for accountability by providing human service managers with basic guidance on program evaluation philosophies and procedures. It provides valuable information on developing best…

The teacher evaluation literature was reviewed to discover insights to further the understanding of teacher evaluation. Information was gathered from a review of the empirical research and theoretical literature related to teacher evaluation through more than 30 ERIC searches. A matrix was developed to summarize the findings from each research…

Along with assessing the value of a program, evaluations should aid in decision making, support change management, and improve processes. For an evaluation to effect change, three conditions should occur: informing, collaborating, and mixing. The evaluation of a Wheaton College (Massachusetts) graduation requirement that students complete a…

This Critical Issue Bibliography (CRIB) Sheet focuses on assessment. Assessment has been a major trend in higher education over the last 10 years, with the nature of the literature changing significantly over the years. This annotated bibliography groups assessment resources into these categories: (1) general resources; (2) institutional…

This document provides information for managers in the U. S. Agency for International Development on measuring institutional capacity, including some tools that measure the capacity of an entire organization as well as others that look at individual components or functions of an organization. The paper defines and discusses capacity assessment in…

This booklet contains a self-assessment tool using the quality considerations in "The Guide to Quality for Even Start Family Literacy Programs." These rating scales are offered as a way to examine aspects of operations to identify Even Start program strengths and weaknesses, determine where local evaluation might be focused, or plan…

Both quality and representation are constructs that are central to evaluation as a form of human discourse. Quality is perhaps the most essential idea in evaluation, and once quality is discerned, it must be conveyed, or represented to others. These constructs are considered in the context of the Chicago, Illinois public schools, an urban system…

The purpose of this compendium is to assist administrators, staff, evaluators, and alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention specialists in identifying and selecting feasible, informative, and appropriate evaluation instruments to assess AOD use and monitor program effectiveness on campus. The use of qualitative methods in the evaluation of…

This paper describes the background, charge to the committee, evaluation plan, and recommendations for an evaluation of core curriculum in a Texas Community College District. A committee of faculty and administrators from a large Community College District designed a model for evaluating the core curriculum. The committee defined the purpose of…

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism established the Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to review and report on the existing research on college student drinking, including the evaluation of camps and community policies, prevention programs, and early intervention strategies. This review…

This study provides updated information about states' kinship care policies for children in foster care based on a survey conducted in 1999. Almost all states give preference to and seek out kin when placing a child in foster care. However, states vary in the way that they assess and support kinship care. Most states assess kin differently than…

This paper shows the shift in emphasis in school evaluation that has occurred in the Dallas Public Schools, Texas, in recent years. The primary emphasis is now on accountability in measuring, using, and learning from teacher and school effectiveness. Both value-added and unadjusted measures are needed for these evaluations, and traditional program…

This handbook is designed for anyone seeking a methodical approach to needs assessment, but it is intended primarily for human resource development (HRD) professionals and for those who must validate HRD programs. It lays the foundations for needs assessment, discusses the "whats" and "whys," and then reviews the "how tos." These chapters review…

This book gives step-by-step instructions on how to design, implement, and present an evaluation study for a museum or other settings for informal education, and it presents guidelines for studying the experiences of visitors in informal educational settings. The chapters are: (1) "Planning an Evaluation Project"; (2) "Informal…