Children in Liberia receive 2.2 learning-adjusted years of schooling, one of the lowest levels of educational attainment in the world. We study one approach to address low enrollment and low rates of learning: a 10-month accelerated learning program run by the Luminos Fund to help out-of-school children catch up to grade level. We conducted a…

In this article, Julia So discusses the purpose of program assessment, four common missteps of program assessment and reporting, and how to prevent them. The four common missteps of program assessment and reporting she has observed are: (1) unclear or ambiguous program goals; (2) measurement error of program goals and outcomes; (3) incorrect unit…

The statewide program review process for Illinois community colleges required by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) is scheduled on a five-year cycle, however, the value of program review is lost without regular opportunities for engagement and reflection on what has been learned through the process (Eggleston, 2020). Furthermore, one of…

Is assessment a top-down bureaucratic mandate, an undertaking that seems to have little to do with improving practice, an inauthentic activity that frustrates and disempowers, an afterthought? Or is it a process embraced and enacted together by all stakeholders as a means to learn and grow and enact change in the world? The authors of the…

Community-engaged scholars, practitioners, and community partners often find the language of community engagement challenging. Words like "participate," "collaborate," "partner," or "engage" fail to convey who in a community-university partnership has voice and authority in decision-making and responsibility…

This research brief provides community college educators who are facilitating program review with tips, suggestions, and resources to ensure a high-quality review that advances equitable student outcomes.

The notions of indigenous knowledge and cultural philosophies are becoming ubiquitous in many social inquiries, and evaluation is no exception. Nonetheless, the pursuit to embed relevant indigenous philosophies in contemporary evaluation has yet to succeed. In this article, we discuss indigenous relational philosophies, approaches, and practices…

This paper explores the external developmental assets and how they manifest in specific youth programs from Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras. An evaluation process was created through a qualitative phenomenological with the youth programs' leadership. To triangulate the data, a survey was developed and piloted with a small sample from three youth…

The problem addressed in this study was that online training designers experience barriers when implementing evaluations to assess knowledge transfer after 3-6 months. This qualitative exploratory case study aimed to explore online training designers' experiences and perceptions regarding the barriers faced when working with project stakeholders…

Community-based partnerships are integral to mental health programming and research. However, there are limited published guidelines that apply the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), especially within the context of supporting vulnerable youth populations. This article demonstrates the application of the CBPR principles…

A method called multi-attribute utility analysis (MAUA) provides a decision-making framework that facilitates comparative analysis of multiple real-world decision alternatives with unique complex attributes. Utility analysis as a measure of effectiveness has been minimally used by educational researchers to date, despite clear relevance in complex…

This perspective paper describes the strategic development of evaluation and organizational learning programs focused on building core knowledge and skills at a university with high research activity. New program development allows academic leaders to introduce relevant and cutting-edge knowledge to students. Nevertheless, the program development…

This report presents an approach to evaluating networked improvement communities (NICs) and describes the tools used to apply the approach to a formative evaluation of the Minnesota Alternative Learning Center Networked Improvement Community (Minnesota ALC NIC). In fall 2019 leaders at the Minnesota Department of Education requested support from…

Program evaluation is important for assessing the implementation and outcomes of local, state, and federal programs. The Program Evaluation Toolkit provides tools and resources to support individuals responsible for evaluating and monitoring local, state, or federal programs. The toolkit comprises eight modules that cover critical steps in program…

As community-campus engagement (CCE) continues to gain momentum, impact has increasingly been evaluated through qualitative measurements rooted in community-based perspectives. However, for CCE to have meaningful impact, it must challenge dominant power structures and work to create equitable relationships. This article explores efforts to better…