Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle wrote of four distinct causes at play in the world we know. Those causes, the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause, were meant to refer to ontological and, by extension, epistemological concerns, and were powerful enough to be seized upon and used in some form by those of very…

Individuals with low incomes often struggle to advance in the labor market, yet at the same time, some employers report difficulty finding workers with the necessary skills. WorkAdvance is a workforce development model that seeks to address the needs of both of these groups through its "dual customer" approach. The model offers training…

As our world becomes more interconnected on international, domestic, and personal levels, our need to be more culturally competent increases (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2007; Ting-Toomey, 1999). Recognizing this need, Washington State University Extension sought to increase skills of its personnel by developing a set of cultural competencies…

Most of the authors in this issue of "Future of Children" focus on a single strategy for helping both adults and children that could become a component of two-generation programs. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, on the other hand, look at actual programs with an explicit two-generation focus that have been tried in the…

Outcomes-based program evaluation is a systematic approach to identifying outcome indicators and measuring results against those indicators. One dimension of program evaluation is assessing the level of learner acquisition to determine if learning objectives were achieved as intended. The purpose of the proposed model is to use Bloom's Taxonomy to…

Documenting evidence of impact demonstrates that organizations and programs are making a difference and/or accomplishing something positive. The results of a program must ultimately change people's attitudes or behavior, or benefit society in other ways (Diem, 1997). As competition increases and the availability of financial resources decreases,…

This report provides initial results of Illinois' Shifting Gears Initiative that operated between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009. This mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) evaluation sought to accomplish three goals: (1) to assess program and student outcomes for two models (adult education and developmental education) for two target groups…

A modification of Donald Kirkpatrick's model suggests use of a training-impact tree to identify variables that could establish links between training and organizational values. Steps include identifying organizational values and practices; identifying skills, knowledge, and attitudes; defining scope and purpose of evaluation; gathering data; and…

Kirkpatrick reviews his 1959 article presenting his four-level model of evaluation. He suggests that training professionals should evaluate their programs and understanding those four levels is a good start. The text of the original article is included. (JOW)

This evaluation matrix considers three aspects: (1) evaluation focus (purpose/rationale, context, audience); (2) evaluation design (questions, methods, data sources, analysis, reporting); and (3) management (personnel, timeline, costs). Application to six elements (participant, instructor, course, curriculum, program, project) is illustrated. (SK)

The Situated Evaluation Framework for continuing professional education programs situates the learner and knowledge assessment at the junction of three contexts: educational, practice, and evaluation. The framework incorporates the following components of evaluation theory: programming, valuing, knowledge, and utilization. (SK)

Looks at models for evaluating training programs and discusses how they have been used by various companies. (JOW)

Discusses Donald J. Kirkpatrick's Level 4 evaluation model and how and whether to measure the value of training today. Suggests that a balanced view is needed to measure hard- and soft-skill performance gauges, tangible and intangible benefits, and long- and short-term results. (JOW)

Innovations in training technology must be transferred from the researcher to the user to be effective. This system concept paper presents a framework for the establishment of an Army training technology transfer program, as well as suggestions to improve the acceptance and use of training research products. Training technology transfer is defined…