Extension education evaluators are concerned about accounting for lack of control over and the value of describing environmental influences when assessing impact. Evaluability assessment (EA) identifies relationships between and describes external influences on program events. It provides information regarding clarity about goals and objectives…

An approach to enhancing program quality in educational institutions through program mapping is presented in this report. First, the objective of program mapping is specified as a means to evaluate and clarify the learning outcomes of a college's educational programs; and its use as a graphic representation of the interdependent relationships…

The definition of evaluation as a process of delineating, obtaining and providing information useful for making decisions and judgments about educational programs and curricula highlights the function of evaluative information of assisting decision-making. It reflects the concept of the role of evaluation in informing action at discrete decision…

It is common practice to associate recommendations for program improvement with evaluation reports. In this article, several classes of recommendations are identified, and aspects of one class are explored in some detail. Consideration is given to certain logical, methodological, and practical issues relating to the derivation of recommendations…

Differing views about the success evaluators have had in improving programs directly are contrasted. It is suggested that evaluation, even when decisions are not based directly on evaluation outcomes, should represent continuing education for program managers, planners, and policy makers with probable impact in the future. (SLD)

Describes the overall evaluation framework that is guiding Missouri's efforts to evaluate comprehensive school guidance programs. Views evaluation as ongoing process designed to improve guidance program. Discusses program, personnel, and results evaluation in an outcome-based framework guided by five questions. (Author/NB)

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), accredits Wyoming's seven community colleges. Institutional accreditation is a voluntary process that serves the critical purposes of quality assurance and institutional and program improvement. Colleges that are accredited by the HLC…

These guidelines are designed to make research a more effective instrument in the management and improvement of the correctional sub-system of criminal justice. The Guide emphasizes that: (1) the correctional administrator has several responsibilities to fulfill if he is to benefit from research, and, (2) the researcher must command a variety of…

This manual contains the complete course plans designed to prepare an individual to participate in an onsite survey. It provides an introduction to the major phases of the survey process: (1) planning for an onsite survey; (2) conducting the opening conference; (3) onsite factfinding; (4) problem identification and analysis; (5) problem solving…

This third and final article on effectiveness and efficiency in industrial training contains a number of suggestions on how to improve training effectively and describes how they are going about it in the Netherlands. (Author)

The author argues for development of community profiles to serve as the basis for value decisions and a system of participation accounting to evaluate the progress of the community services program. (Author/RN)

The various arts and sciences that comprise the field of program evaluation are discussed. It is argued that emphasis on rigor and expressive content has left other aspects of evaluation unexplored. Educational evaluators need to consider what programs mean and how they contribute to understanding. (SLD)

This study explores the efforts at Brigham Young University to improve preservice candidates' technology integration using the Teacher Work Sample (TWS) as an assessment tool. Baseline data that was analyzed from 95 TWSs indicated that students were predominantly using technology for productivity and information presentation purposes even though…

Horizontal evaluation combines self-assessment and external evaluation by peers. Papa Andina, a regional network that works to reduce rural poverty in the Andean region by fostering innovation in potato production and marketing, has used horizontal evaluations to improve the work of local project teams and to share knowledge within the network. In…