Despite growing evidence about the significance of Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs, public investment has been relatively low, resulting in slower expansion of evidence-based ECD programs. This dissertation consists of three essays on conducting and using economic evaluation methods to scale up early childhood education and development…

Participatory evaluation tools have been shown to be effective for program development in various settings, including in higher education. Taking student perspectives into consideration is key for graduate program development, particularly in interdisciplinary programs. The current study utilizes Group Level Assessment (GLA), a participatory…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2018 through 2022 describes the focus and direction of OIG's operations over the next five years, establishes their organizational goals, and outlines the strategies they will employ to reach those goals and the measures they will use to…

Purpose: Although the number of higher education institutions adopting sustainability-focused faculty learning communities (FLCs) has grown, very few of these programs have published evaluation research. This paper aims to report findings from an evaluation of the University of Vermont's (UVM's) sustainability faculty fellows (SFF) program. It…

This article presents an approach to systematic reviews that combines the Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice standards and the realist notion of contexts-mechanisms-outcomes (CMO) configurations. Both approaches have their advantages and drawbacks, and the authors will make a case for combining both approaches to profit from their advantages…

Over the past 20 years, home visitation has emerged as the flagship program through which many states and communities are reaching out to new parents.The presence of bills to advance home visitation in Congress and in state and local legislatures, and the fact that several states and counties are moving forward with comprehensive plans and…

The research's purpose was to examine how exemplary community college study abroad programs assisted student participants in acquiring global competence. Three research questions were explored: (1) What issues need to be anticipated when planning a study abroad program for community college students in order to effectively incorporate…

"Direct evaluation," as a research concept, is based on the idea of "research as an intermediate technology," developed by Steven and Rachel Kaplan in "Cognition and Environment" (1982: Prager). A description of this evaluative technique and its major contributions to program justification, program evaluation, and…

Increased focus on assessment of student learning in the accreditation of higher education institutions offers new, challenging opportunities for institutional researchers. This article explores how institutional researchers can maximize these opportunities by offering methodological guidance in the assessment process and by designing new studies…

"The Program Evaluation Standards," established by 16 professional associations, identify evaluation principles that should result in improved program evaluations that address utility, propriety, feasibility, and accuracy. This digest summarizes these standards. Guidelines and illustrative cases to assist in meeting these standards are…

Excerpts of the NIE Vocational Education Study are presented. Areas covered include federal goals, distributing funds, special needs students, sex equity, improving planning, extending and improving programs, strengthening evaluations, and options for change. (CT)

Discusses the steps to ensure that assessment leads to genuine improvement: (1) agreeing on goals based on recognized standards; (2) establishing yearly objectives that help meet those goals; (3) developing a formal method for reporting the attainment of those objectives; and (4) using the assessment of the program as a part of the media…

Addresses the basic issues faced, methods used, and problems encountered in evaluating school counseling services. Gives examples and suggestions to assist in learning about evaluation. Contends that counselors have the requisite skills and should be involved in evaluation of the services they provide. (NB)

The purpose of this investigation (special field project) was to seek out theoretical and research-proven foundations pertaining to needs assessment activities and their potential impact upon the development and implementation of a Division of Student Affairs Professional Development Program. It was discovered that the activity is highly…

Prepared by local vocational administrators and teachers, this is one of five manuals resulting from the Illinois Occupational Curriculum Project. Designed to assist teachers and administrators plan and evaluate occupational, technical, and career education courses and programs, this manual contains activities for accomplishing program evaluation,…