This article recounts the experience of the Regent University Library in planning and implementing a festival of Tolstoy and Russian culture as part of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read initiative. The NEA launched the Big Read in 2006 to counter the alarming decline of literary reading documented in its 2002 report Reading at…

High-quality youth arts programs that take place outside the formal education system play a vital role in supporting the developmental needs and well-being of today's youth, particularly youth at risk of negative outcomes. Out-of-school time (OST) youth arts programs provide opportunities for youth to learn about themselves and their world while…

This issue of The Evaluation Exchange explores the promising practices and challenges associated with taking an enterprise to scale, along with the role that evaluation can and should play in that process. Surprisingly few examples exist of nonprofit efforts that have scaled up and achieved lasting success. A program or approach may be strong…

This resource book, designed as a planning tool for demonstration project directors, discusses the following six key elements which have application at all three stages of a demonstration project: (1) Objectives, (2) resources, (3) endorsement, (4) communications, (5) evaluation, and (6) outreach. Each of these elements is discussed within the…

Evaluation is often both conceptually and functionally separate from program planning and operations management. There are a number of potentially beneficial side effects to be realized from close collaboration between program administrators and evaluators: when the evaluation task is broadly defined and when both administrators recognize their…

This booklet presents a step-by-step system for planning and carrying out an effective public communication campaign. In his discussion, the author concentrates on various planning processes rather than on the mechanics of writing, designing, photographing, or editing. However, while the booklet's emphasis is definitely on planning, many specific…

This book is designed as a basic guide to the development of effective school public relations programs. The author provides guidelines for setting up effective communication strategies and presents ideas for spreading good news as well as for dealing with problems. One chapter focuses specifically on the difficult communication problems presented…

The purpose of this project was to organize an effective, comprehensive, public relations program in a medium size school district and, hopefully, increase the image of the district. The data contained in this report will demonstrate a clear need for the organization of a public relations program, the extent to which an effective, comprehensive…

This overview report of the site visit evaluations for the Minnesota Council on Quality Education (CQE) Early Childhood and Family Education programs provides an aggregate picture of the total CQE effort. The purpose of the evaluation effort was to judge the quality of the CQE programs. The first part of this report presents the results of those…

Principles of effective research administration originally written over a decade ago are revised to reflect the challenges of a new, technologically advanced, and rapidly changing climate. They now include establishing, communicating, and constantly evaluating the goals of research administration in conjunction with institutional partners;…

The Extended Campus Segment of De Anza College was designed as a brokerage between main campus educational resources and the needs of its service community. To that end, the segment was reorganized to provide a continual system of community needs and interests assessment with emphasis on individual learners as its base; to establish an educational…

Basically a means by which a group of people can come together and share their experiences of a common set of events, this processing technique provides a mechanism that can be used for various purposes, including information sharing, informal assessment of ongoing projects, overcoming language problems, and staff development. Among those programs…

Current concepts and realities of comprehensive planning act as a backdrop for a discussion of the types and sources of information required to support components of institutional planning processes. Information to support components of the planning process are outlined in relation to practical opportunities and to the intent, commitment, and…

This is the final report and evaluation of a program designed to disseminate career education curricular materials to career education agencies in Connecticut and nationwide. In three sections, the report evaluates the dissemination process. Section 1 focuses on the number of curricular packets disseminated and the localities reached after initial…

The programs and projects of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation are outlined, and its attitudes toward evaluation are discussed--with particular emphasis on the evaluation of an individually guided education project, developed by the Institute for Development of Educational Activities to promote instructional change. The Kettering Foundation, a…