As beef industry trends have evolved, beef producers are looking for value-added beef practices and marketing strategies. To ensure that a new value-added beef Extension program framework at Iowa State University aligns with beef producers' needs, a needs assessment instrument was created. We developed a needs assessment tool focused on program…

Nonprofit organizations are under great pressure to use evaluations to show that their programs "work" and that they are "effective." However, empirical evidence indicates that nonprofits struggle to perform useful evaluations, especially when conducted under accountability pressures. An increasing body of evidence highlights…

This paper reveals a new evaluation model, which enables educational program and project managers to evaluate their programs with a simple and easy to understand approach. The "index of success model" is comprised of five parameters that enable to focus on and evaluate both the implementation and results of an educational program. The…

Assessment of learning goals has become the norm in business programs in higher education across the country. This paper offers a methodology for the assessment of both communication skills and research skills within a curriculum of the Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Program. Program level learning goals assessed in this paper are: (1)…

This article provides an overview of the empirical effects of students' academic choices on academic performance (e.g., amount, quality, and rate of work). Twenty-nine separate experiments within 26 publications were included in the review. The choices involved performance goals and standards, the nature of assignments, instructional support…

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), a unit within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is responsible for advising the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of programs to improve the economic and social well-being of children and families. In collaboration…

Individual plans for people with intellectual disabilities were evaluated for quality and effectiveness in improving quality of life. Quality was assessed by rating whether goals were relevant, observable, age appropriate, necessary, timetabled, developmental, measurable, realistic, assigned to staff and improving at least one of O'Brien's five…

A discussion of administrative program evaluation addresses the problem and opportunity of evaluation from the perspective of the administrator or institutional researcher by suggesting criteria for deciding on the need for formal evaluation, examining several evaluation design strategies, and looking at how evaluation can enhance organizational…

Consumer satisfaction with mental health services is one of the process objectives inherent in the general goals for community mental health centers funded federally by the National Institute of Mental Health. Programs must demonstrate that patients and other service consumers agree that their needs are being met by existing services and patterns…

The National Sex Equity Demonstration Project (NSEDP) in the Broward County Schools, Florida, was created in 1979 to provide a demonstration of sex equity teaching. The two principal thrusts of the Project were to review materials to be used by regular teachers and to demonstrate how classrooms (and a whole district) could diminish discrimination…

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…

Evaluation of the effectiveness of community based storefront drug treatment prevention agencies is generally lacking in the literature. A five step procedure is outlined as a model for evaluation of such agencies. (Author)

This report describes the Tucson Early Education Psychological Services (TEEPS) program during its third year of operation. TEEPS is based on the position that the quality of psychological services in the public schools can be increased by establishing educational systems in which the functions of psychology in education are embodied in system…

An earlier version of this paper was presented at a Nationwide Staff Meeting of the National Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults (Chicago, June 8 to 11, 1969). (RD)

Strasser and Deniston's own analysis (TM 504 254) shows that post-planned evaluations are unsuitable substitutes for pre-planned evaluations. When viewed as post-experimental interviews, however, post-planned evaluations can produce valuable information which complements traditional experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations. (MH)