This paper provides a program evaluation of the K-12 social science program in the Des Moines (Iowa) public schools. The program attempts to provide a balance between American and World Studies, History and Current Issues. It emphasizes multicultural and non-sexist learnings and includes the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to survive in…

This interlibrary loan (ILL) cost study was conducted at Union College Library in Schenectady, New York, in order to provide immediate feedback about ILL as well as to serve as a potential management tool for library and college administrators. This report describes the financial statistics of a 3-year period of use of ILL services at this small,…

Cost effectiveness of on-the-job training (OJT) can be determined by measures of effectiveness and by cost assessing the relationship between output and input. Defining effectiveness to be a measure of what an activity produces leaves two main groups of problems unresolved: hierarchies of effectiveness and multiple outcomes. The most significant…

Production function applications to improve the efficiency of educational programs require identification of inputs and outputs and the establishment of a data bank to provide information on input and output variables. This generalizable input identification model organizes inputs for systems analysis at various levels of inputs and provides a…

The study sought to identify clusters of variables potentially linked to departmental excellence in institutions of higher education, and to determine whether these clusters and combinations thereof could be used to generate rankings of programs which would be consistent with those based on reputation. It studied the interrelationship of…

The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model, a conceptual model for measuring productivity and efficiency, is presented and applied in this report. First, the DEA model is described, and three of its properties that make it particularly useful are identified; i.e., it measures efficiency of units relative to each other rather than to absolute…

An exploratory investigation was conducted of a college of education's major costs in providing the "education major" alternative to obtaining teacher certification. Basic procedures consisted of identifying appropriate cost categories and gathering the required cost information. Major effects data from previous studies were reviewed and…

This article argues that the conclusions of previous research on the impact of sentencing guidelines may be misleading due to the cross-sectional methodologies employed in these studies. This study will suggest that a theoretically driven longitudinal analysis of mandatory guidelines offers a more appropriate way to study these policies.…

Following a discussion of a number of objective methods of program evaluation, the author recommends a more subjective or existential model. Described briefly are the behavioral objectives model, the goal-free model, the systems analysis model, the decision-making model, the accreditation and adversary models, and the transactional model. The…

The utility of cost-benefit analysis in program evaluation is illustrated using hypothetical examples of the consequences of natural environments service provision. Areas for further research related to cost and benefit implications are presented. Early intervention programs can use the cost-benefit framework to evaluate the social impact of…

In the Philadelphia school district, in 1975-76, several educational inputs, including the basal linguistic approach, were particularly distinguishable for their contribution to growth in the reading achievement of fourth graders. The impact of pupil, principal, teacher, and instruction characteristics are examined. Regular school attendance…

In the past decade, based on a change in paradigms in university policy, performance funding on a cantonal and central state level has been introduced in Switzerland: the universities have been granted higher autonomy, combined with global budgets and contract management by the responsible authorities (cantonal authorities). At the same time, the…

What difference are we making? How do we know? How can we show it? These questions about program performance are asked by adult literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers, program administrators, and funders. This guide is designed to be used by local adult education programs to facilitate a systematic inquiry process…

A large-scale longitudinal study in Bolivia examined the relationship between adult women's basic education and their social and economic well-being and development. A random sample of 1,600 participants and 600 nonparticipants, aged 15-45, was tracked for 3 years (the final sample included 717 participants and 224 controls). The four adult…

Government expansion of child care services is based on the assumption that both parents are employed (the adult worker model) and make cost-benefit calculations in choosing child care (the rational economic choice model). This paper addresses this assumption, based on research examining mothers' assessments of appropriate child care. These…