Evaluation capacity building (ECB) is an essential element for generating credible and actionable evidence on Extension programs. This paper offers a discussion of ECB efforts in Cooperative Extension and how such efforts enable Extension professionals to collect and use credible and actionable evidence on the quality and impacts of programs.…

Despite bipartisan support in Washington, DC, which dates back to the mid-1990s, the "what works" approach has yet to gain broad support among policymakers and practitioners. One way to build such support is to increase the usefulness of program impact evaluations for these groups. We describe three ways to make impact evaluations more…

We review the value of cost-effectiveness analysis for evaluation and decision making with respect to educational programs and discuss its application to early reading interventions. We describe the conditions for a rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis and illustrate the challenges of applying the method in practice, providing examples of programs…

This paper presents a framework for program assessment and a case study in assessment for a university clothing and textile program in family and consumer sciences. Assessment activities and the process implemented by the Textile and Apparel Studies (TAS) major at Western Michigan University are explained. The process adopts the International…

"The First-Year Seminar: Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Courses to Support Student Learning and Success," a five-volume series, is designed to assist educators who are interested in launching a first-year seminar or revamping an existing program. Each volume examines a different aspect of first-year seminar design or…

This manuscript describes the development and testing of an Internet-based cost survey that was designed by the authors for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) to capture the costs of school-based health programs. The intent of the survey was twofold. First, the survey was designed to collect comprehensive data on costs in a…

In recent years, there has been increasing attention to the importance of interagency collaboration for improving community well-being, environmental and public health, and educational outcomes. This article uses a mixed-methods approach including network analysis to examine the changes in interagency collaboration in one site funded by the Safe…

This handbook is a basic "how-to" guide to help one's Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) or Community Parent Resource Center (CPRC) evaluate its programs. Evaluation may seem overwhelming, but a center already performs some steps of the evaluation process for the reports required by the Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers…

This paper outlines purposes of program evaluation and provides practical information to help individuals from a wide spectrum of backgrounds use evaluation to move their program ahead in a purposeful manner. Wisely moving ahead requires an assessment of an organization's past and present as well as an examination of its assumptions about the…

The concept of evaluation readiness complements other evaluation planning approaches. Its basic products are the formal program definition and the data inventory framework. Ways to improve timeliness, appropriateness, and use of evaluation are also discussed. (Author/GDC)

Explores the effects evidence-based practice and the guideline movement will have on evaluation in the future and discusses the impact on evaluation of three aspects of the current information revolution: (1) e-government; (2) new approaches to data access; and (3) real-time evaluation. Also considers the sources of evaluation innovation and the…

The reports highlighted in this issue offer an excellent view of the success, value, and contributions of the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Program. Also discusses the federal statistical system and the role that NHES and other national household surveys play in providing the United States with information needed for policy…

This paper proposes a model to establish which criteria are considered by stakeholders as valid for evaluating a program. The model is developed with the aim of increasing the credibility and use of evaluations. Stakeholders are involved in the identification of potential evaluation criteria, and ratings of validity and priority are used as the…

This book offers a comprehensive guide to evaluation as applied to management development. Part I (Chapters 1-2) discusses the following: what management is; the role of training, development, and education of managers; the purposes of evaluation (proving, improving, learning, controlling); and approaches to evaluation. Part II (Chapters 3-6)…

The ongoing activities of program evaluation in the College of Education at Michigan State University are described in terms of three major phases of the evaluation: data collection; data analysis and reporting; and internal program reviews. Descriptions are included of the Graduate and Undergraduate Education Policy Committees, Office of Program…