Few arguments about education are as effective at galvanizing public attention and motivating political action as those that compare the performance of students with their counterparts in other countries and that connect academic achievement to economic performance. Because data from international large-scale assessments (ILSA) have a powerful…

The relevance of the stakeholder approach to evaluations of development assistance programs is examined. Ways in which the methodology can be useful in fostering interest in evaluation outcomes and in increasing the probability that evaluative recommendations will be implemented are discussed. (SLD)

The organization of monitoring and evaluation of public sector programs in South Asia is described, and the ways in which information from the studies is actually used are discussed. Reasons why there has been so little interest in evaluating the performance and maintenance of public sector programs are considered. (SLD)

The use of qualitative evaluation methods is explored as a means of overcoming constraints and complexities of evaluation of development programs. A case study demonstrating the application of qualitative analysis to monitoring and evaluation of the Basic Minimum Needs program in Thailand is presented. (SLD)

This paper focuses on the experience of the Policy Education Centre on Assistance to Transition in providing monitoring and evaluation services to "Support for Improvement in Governance and Management in Central and Eastern European Countries" (SIGMA), a joint project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the…

The experience of development assistance (donor) agencies with the monitoring and evaluation of their projects in the developing countries is reviewed. The concepts and definitions of monitoring and evaluation are traced and problems and issues that emerged in the 1970's are reviewed. Future directions are discussed. (SLD)

Because of increased aid to developing nations, cross-cultural evaluation has become more common. Whether culture has an influence on evaluation was studied by simulating a study of Mexican and U.S. agricultural administrators. Results demonstrate the effects of cultural differences on evaluation. (SLD)

Learning from evaluation is discussed with reference to the experiences of the Norwegian aid administration. The study demonstrates that evaluation builds learning through involvement and through communication. An organization can maximize its learning by making the two modes supplement each other. (SLD)

This book presents a comprehensive treatment of the subject of evaluation as applied to literacy programs, covering evaluation theory, planning, and practice. Part I discusses questions of definition, context, objectives, and functions of evaluation and presents descriptions and analyses of evaluation paradigms and models. In Part II, the…