Reasons for frustrations surrounding needs assessment in organizations are examined. Action strategies are paired with three of the root causes of obstacles to effective assessment: (1) flawed needs assessments; (2) no organizational support; and (3) inadequate expertise assigned to the effort. A sidebar presents four possible causes linked to…

Strengthened the theory of change approach to evaluating a complex social initiative by integrating it with a quasi-experimental comparison group design. Used the approach in an evaluation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Urban Health Initiative. Initial findings support the usefulness of the initiative. (SLD)

Suggests that there is a need to change the traditional evaluative process that treats teachers as supervised workers rather than collegial professionals. Examines the process, purpose, effectiveness, financial implications, and the future of peer review programs. Explains the process, purpose, and benefits of the program Peer Assistance and…

This paper reacts to testimony on early childhood special education research before the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education (EC 632 080). It notes the real technical and practical difficulties of developing valid assessments and research on the effectiveness of interventions. It urges greater attention to identifying…

Studied teacher evaluation practice in 27 North Carolina school districts 14 years after the initial implementation of the North Carolina Teacher Appraisal System. Findings show more inconsistencies in practice and less support for the system than would be desirable. (SLD)

Discusses trends in early child development (ECD) programs. Considers future trends in evaluation research in terms of seven prototype designs expected to be widely used in the 1990s. Examines recent developmental theory and its implications for evaluating ECD programs. Lists principles that ECD programs need to follow if they are to convince…

Reviews research that presents the criteria by which adult literacy program effectiveness can be assessed. (MG)

Program evaluation as a methodology is discussed, and its application to government export promotion programs is examined. Because the variety of approaches to export program evaluation, resulting data are often of limited usefulness. A programmatic approach to program evaluation is proposed. (TJH)

The various arts and sciences that comprise the field of program evaluation are discussed. It is argued that emphasis on rigor and expressive content has left other aspects of evaluation unexplored. Educational evaluators need to consider what programs mean and how they contribute to understanding. (SLD)

This commentary outlines considerations in assessing (and programing for) social validity to attain results that are valued by client audiences. It discusses the objectives and contexts of several types of social validation, procedures for conducting a social validation, and questions addressed by researchers in assessing social validity. (JDD)

Describes the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and reviews and assesses research on its impact. Recommends policy reforms and randomized experiments to evaluate the program and any changes made to it. Weaknesses in research to date make the real impacts of WIC unclear. (Contains 79 references.) (SLD)

Identifies problems with recidivism as an evaluation measure in correctional education. Addresses recidivism as a moral issue. Describes procedures to improve the effectiveness of recidivism studies. (JOW)

In recent years there has been an intense debate in many countries concerning the best approach to improving schools. The various methods being tried might be reasonably seen as constituting a continuum ranging from strict external control and inspection at one end, to self-evaluation and internal regulation at the other. In practice, most…

This paper summarizes the findings of a systematic review of research on the reliability and validity of teachers' assessment used for summative purposes. In addition to the main question, the review also addressed the question "What conditions affect the reliability and validity of teachers' summative assessment?" The initial search for studies…

With increasing availability of interventions for children with autism, it is important that these are backed by rigorous evaluation data that have high levels of ecological validity. To achieve this, a key prerequisite for any evaluation is to gather data on typical consumers and typical implementation patterns of the intervention. This study…