In the past decade, the federal government, some states, and numerous communities have initiated programs to help couples form and sustain healthy marriages and relationships in order to increase family stability for children. Thus, the authors value the attention given to this emerging policy area by the "American Psychologist" in a recent…

This article presents an interview with Eric Barela, a K-12 school district internal evaluator who conducted the Title I Best Practices study for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Research and Planning Division (formerly known as the Program Evaluation and Research Branch). In this interview, the author focuses not only on the…

Federal social program evaluation has blossomed over the past quarter century. Despite this growth, there has been little accompanying public debate on research ethics. This essay explores the origins and the implications of this relative silence on ethical matters. It reviews the federal regulations that generally govern research ethics, and…

Recommendations to increase the relevance of information, improve the communication of information, and increase user responsiveness to information are presented. Recommendations include the following: (1) the Department of Education (ED) should institute a flexible planning system for evaluations of federal education programs; (2) congressional…

The author comments on significant methodological issues emerging from substantial studies of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act which are highly relevant to evaluations of the Job Training Partnership Act. (JOW)

This article focuses on the management of federally funded evaluation research by (1) discussing aspects of building an in-house evaluation team; (2) defining possible contractor/client relationships, and (3) considering contractor/practitioner team rapport. (Author/GK)

Examines budgetary cutbacks in federal data systems. Concludes that (1) justifications for cutbacks are unconvincing; (2) cutbacks have affected data availability and quality severely; (3) the feasibility of the idea that major data users should collect their own information is dubious; and (4) special evaluation studies cannot substitute for…

The state of the art of randomized social field experiments is discussed. Topics discussed include disciplines of primary actors involved in such research, scientific value of experimentation, the nation's capacity to conduct field experiments, and society's willingness to permit such experiments. (TJH)

Certain expectations that federal officials have about evaluation researchers are discussed. Included are: (1) presence of a clear understanding of what evaluation means; (2) procedure for carrying out an evaluation; and (3) understanding by the evaluator of how the research relates to the decision-making process. (Author/GK)

An impact evaluation of the Spanish/English component of the federal Bilingual Education Program (BEP) was done by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) between 1974-76. The AIR evaluation took three years, cost $2 million, and examined many aspects of the BEP. This paper explores the influence of the AIR evaluation on the 1978…

Concludes that Title I has suffered from a politically bad image that might be due in part to unrealistic expectations. (FL)

Discusses problems that social scientists face when evaluating social programs, including cost, methodological concerns, and the development and application of new analytical techniques. (GC)

The author contends that within executive government, which already has all the information it needs to make decisions, program evaluation is seen as a symbolic rather than a substantive enterprise. If it is assumed that program evaluation is an end of policy, not a means, the reasons for government investment in evaluation include: (1) no choice;…

Discusses the political and economic factors that lay behind a federal mandate for evaluation of the 4-H program. Reviews the themes of other articles in this journal issue dealing with various aspects of the evaluation. (GC)

Briefly describes the content, organization, and multiple influences on the 4-H program in relation to a national program evaluation. Discusses influences of the sponsors and evaluators on the evaluation and problems encountered because of competing values and perceptions. Reviews evaluation findings and speculates on the utilization of the…