This chapter examines how factors both internal and external to Cooperative Extension have influenced its commitment and capability to assess the quality and impact of its programs. The authors begin by documenting how the nature of Extension programming has changed dramatically in response to societal needs over the course of the organization's…

Objective: To test the effectiveness of an in-training program for practitioners in public child welfare organizations. Method: The sample consists of practitioners (N = 945) working in youth centers or in local community service centers. Data are collected through self-administered questionnaires prior to and after the program. Results: The data…

In 1993, about 93 percent of respondents previously surveyed in 1992 were reinterviewed as part of a study of the impact of labor market programs in postsocialist Hungary. The surveys investigated the impact of retraining and public service employment (PSE) on labor market success by comparing outcomes for participants to others who were…

Relatively little research has examined the outcomes (either program completion or recidivism) of community service (CS) sentences among adult offenders in the United States, despite the fact that this form of alternative sanction has been employed in the United States for nearly 40 years. What little research exists, primarily from Europe,…

The Cooperative Extension Service improves the diets of low income families through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). In 1980 and 1983, low income homemakers with young children were chosen from eight counties in Georgia to participate in the program. The 24-Hour Food Recall instrument assessed the number of servings from…

If museums and libraries are to compete for both public and private funds in an accountability-driven environment, they must develop evaluation practices that provide the most compelling picture of the impact of their services. The two essays in this document present clear arguments for the adoption of a specific approach to evaluation known as…

Discusses service learning (learning that combines public service with related academic work) and service learning projects in an undergraduate course on mass communication and society. Finds that it is an effective means of teaching that increases student understanding of complex material. (SR)

This study surveys directors of organized university programs designed to assist public officials and two groups of practitioners--state government officials and local government managers. The study examines the extent to which these practitioner groups use these university services and their judgment of the quality as compared with services from…

High school students who are involved in community service work are more likely to continue such community service after graduation. Highlights of a study using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, Second Follow-up (1992) and Third Follow-up (1994), include the following: (1) in 1994, 43 percent of 1992 high school seniors…

The report is a review and analysis of the status of the Public Service Occupations Curriculum Project, and is an outgrowth of discussions and recommendations from the February 1974 meeting of the National Advisory and Review Committee of the California State Department of Education, Vocational Education Section. Approximately one-half of the…

College alumni associations are using a variety of approaches to improve alumni participation. Surveying alumni for needs and preferences can be fruitful. Program ideas include career planning, parent programs, community service, student relations activities, and high school recruitment. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation is crucial to…

Describes a pilot project that had faculty from four universities develop portfolios of their professional service activities. Discusses issues and insights emerging from early project experience, including importance of collaboration, realistic estimation of time and effort required for documentation, tension between this innovation and…

This third volume of a three-volume report of the National Commission for Manpower Policy on Public Service Employment (PSE) contains four papers prepared for the commission's use by various scholars in the field: "Evaluating the Economic Stimulus Package from an Employment and Training Perspective," by John Palmer; "Public Service Employment as…

The National Service (NS) program links financial assistance for education to community service. Four issues of primary concern arise as policymakers and program planners move from the program's concept to the fine points of its design and implementation: (1) achieving balance among the program's conflicting goals; (2) expanding educational…

This monograph includes two reports describing the results of three years of field research on the implementation and impact of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) in Eastern Massachusetts. They represent a thorough and detailed study of the problems faced by prime sponsors in the initial years of CETA. The first report, CETA in…