Evaluability assessment is a diagnostic and prescriptive technique that can be used to determine the extent to which different problems inhibit program evaluation. It involves policymakers, managers, and staff in developing program theory, clarifying intended uses of evaluation information, and planning further evaluations that would stimulate…

Challenges encountered in developing and maintaining an extensive evaluation program at Ohio State University are retrospectively reconstructed. The setting, the history of program development, and the nature of the program are described as a backdrop for discussion of six issues with implications for program development. (SLD)

The author's optimistic view of evaluation in the future includes increased utilization, especially in the private sector; more professionalization, with potential for conflict; more academic program development; more use in policy; increase in the use of complex methods; and more involvement in program development. (SLD)

Evaluations of multisite programs present special challenges to evaluators concerned with the use of evaluation results. This paper offers an approach that holds promise for mitigating the problems inherent in evaluating programs at multiple sites. A brief analysis is presented of the challenges these programs present and the reasons these…

This handbook is designed to help educators understand program evaluation processes so that they will be able to carry out evaluation tasks and talk knowledgeably to evaluators about what they want to find out from a program evaluation. The book reviews the purposes and uses of evaluation to help the reader identify the scope and direction of the…