This article is third in a series of exemplary cases under the two current section editors. The first two cases (Brandon, Smith, Trenholm, & Devaney, 2010; Smith, Brandon, Lawton, & Krohn-Ching, 2010) profiled evaluations that had been designated as exemplary by professional associations. The present case profiles an evaluation organization:…

In 1997, American Evaluation Association member George Grob, now retired from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and currently President of the Center for Public Program Evaluation, made a testimony on Medicare home health care fraud and abuse before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. The occasion was to announce the…

Productive dialogue is informed best by multiple and diverse voices. Five seasoned evaluators, representing a range of evaluation perspectives, offer their views in two- to three-page discussant contributions. These individuals were asked to reflect and comment on the previous chapters in the spirit of critical review as a key source of evidence…

Weiss' and Patton's competing views concerning the influence of program evaluation on decision-making are critiqued. Patton's approach provides an essential mechanism for achieving desired ends, once they are determined. Weiss' approach supplements that contribution by including not only expert development of means, but also expert selection of…

An incident from evaluation practice is examined to aid understanding of moral problems in evaluation. Six characteristics are identified and discussed. Types of research needed on the moral aspects of evaluation practice are presented. Suggestions for aiding evaluators in dealing with moral problems are outlined. (Author/DWH)

Whether there can be professional reasons for turning down an evaluation contract is explored. Considering how evaluations can promote either guild maintenance interests or societal improvement interests illuminates several dilemmas in the proper conduct of evaluation and suggests the need for greater explicit attention to what it means for the…

The basic functions and procedures of management consulting are contrasted with formal program evaluation. A case example illustrates the differing approaches used in programmatic problem solving. The similarities and differences between these specializations are highlighted to understand their unique but complementary contributions to the…

Occasionally novice evaluators of educational products do not recognize the full scope of their jobs and may feel that there isn't much to do because a product prototype won't be ready for some time. This brief dialogue attempts to illustrate that there are many things an evaluator can do before he or she sees a product--perhaps even too much.…

With the theory that social and personal values influence the conduct of evaluation studies in education, the author discusses the impact of two major sources of such values--contextual factors, including political, social and organizational influences; and the terminology, models, and personal values of evaluators. Alternative purposes for an…

The Research on Evaluation Program's National Advisory Panel recommended that a means of matching evaluation methods with evaluation purposes be developed and that it include a guide to major Program publications. Practitioners in the field have also requested support on how to approach the evaluation design process to permit the incorporation of…

Based on similar studies conducted in 1978 and 1983, this paper provides information on changes in state department of education (SEA) evaluation units over a 5-year period and an update on current conditions. In brief, there appears to have been substantial reductions in the size of SEA evaluation unit staffs. While the majority of studies…

Heads of evaluation units in 21 state education agencies responded to a structured telephone interview about their unit's workload, evaluation methods, and associated problems and needs. Time committed to evaluation ranged from 10% to 100% and did not relate to staff size which ranged from 1-72. Eleven states contracted some of their evaluations.…

Data from two studies of evaluation budgeting practices are presented to determine how resources are typically allocated across budget categories in evaluation studies. A common pattern showed these allocations: (1) 61 percent to personnel; (2) 13 to 14 percent to overhead; and (3) 15 percent to all other categories. (Author/LMO)

Data from two studies on evaluation budgeting practices are presented. In the first study, estimated budget figures are provided for formative and summative evaluations by 29 state education agency evaluators. In the second study, initial budget figures, final costs, and study characteristics are abstracted from the records of 85 evaluations…

This report provides evidence on the amount and types of cost analysis activities currently done in educational evaluation. The results of three studies undertaken to document the actual use of cost methods are discussed. The first study is a review of cost studies conducted in health evaluation. The second study examines all cost studies…