Purpose: This study evaluates the impact of an outsourced extension service delivered by Lima Rural Development Foundation (Lima) in the Umzimkhulu district of South Africa. The evaluation is conducted at both the household and program levels. Design/methodology/approach: Household impacts were estimated using two-stage regression with…

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…

Purpose: The rapidly evolving nature of agricultural innovation processes in low-income countries requires agricultural extension agencies to transform the classical roles that previously supported linear information dissemination and adoption of innovation. In Bangladesh, strengthening agricultural innovation calls for facilitation of interactive…

Evaluation procedures for the systematic measurement of Extension's total impact or effectiveness in rural Shawano County, Wisconsin, involved developing comprehensive descriptions of Extension programs from 1960 to 1975 to list types of activities and offerings, topics, attendances, and overviews of efforts in program areas like agriculture, home…

Two-thirds of the 33,000 residents of Shawano County, Wisconsin, live in rural areas; agricultural interests comprise 30% of the employment economy. Inventories of Extension programs from 1960 to 1975 and telephone interviews with county and community leaders and a random sample of 1192 county residents yielded data for this survey. Most adults…

Perceptions of the 4-H club agent's role were studied from the viewpoint of club agents, county coworkers, supervisors, and officers of county leader's organizations. Data were obtained through personal or group interviews with 189 respondents. Forty job activities were classified into the four categories of (1) planning and evaluating club…

The study aimed at describing the characteristics of a sample of home demonstration units in Onondaga County; testing the effectiveness of the teaching of a selected project; relating characteristics of the units to the learning of the participants; comparing characteristics of project leaders, trained teachers, and members of the unit; and…

Two evaluation projects conducted for the Minnesota Agricultural Extension Service are examined from a user-focused perspective: (1) a needs assessment of large scale commercial farmers for program development by the Office of Special Programs; and (2) a review of the extension programs in Nicollet County. Each incorporated the focus group method…

An assessment of the Cooperative Extension Service (CES) Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program sought to determine the program's performance in: assisting low-income families to acquire knowledge, skills, and motivation; providing knowledge of public and private institutions and a positive impact on the family budget as well as on program…

A STUDY WAS MADE TO DETERMINE COUNTY EXTENSION AGENTS' PERCEPTION OF THEIR ROLE AND THAT OF ADVISORY BOARDS IN PLANNING, EXECUTING, AND EVALUATING THE COUNTY EXTENSION PROGRAM. AGENTS' VIEWS ON WHO OUGHT TO HAVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PERFORMING COUNTY PROGRAMING FUNCTIONS WERE ALSO EXAMINED. ALL 109 AGENTS IN THE NORTHWESTERN EXTENSION DISTRICT IN…

The authors have written this manual to aid workers in the Cooperative Extension Service of the United States to be better able to understand and apply the principles and methods of evaluation. The manual contains three sections which cover the nature and place of evaluation in extension work, the evaluation process, and the uses of evaluation…