Conducted a formative evaluation of an osteoporosis prevention health education program using several methods, including questionnaires completed by 256 women, and then compared formative evaluation results to those of a summative evaluation focusing on the same target group. Results show the usefulness of formative evaluation for strengthening…

Introduces the Outcome-Asset Impact Model, a tool that combines elements of client-centered outcomes and asset orientations with a systems approach. The application of this model to the evaluation of program interventions is illustrated through three case studies: (1) a multiple objective urban revitalization initiative; (2) an early intervention…

In Australia, the authors learned it is common to ask one or more conference participants to summarize and assess the conference in a final "closing" session. They found the experience of serving as "closers" strangely similar to what students are asked to do in providing an overall assessment of a course or instructor at the…

The authors present the findings of an evaluation of the residential environmental education program offered by the New Jersey School of Conservation (NJSOC). Sixth-grade students (n = 419) from a large, central New Jersey school district participated in a 4-day/3-night experience. The Children's Attitudes Toward the Environment Scale (L. M.…

When the mean impact of an assigned social program cannot be estimated due to non-feasibility of a pre-intervention baseline survey, it is possible to track the ex-participants instead. By developing a triple-difference estimation model, measured outcome changes are compared between present participants and ex-participants. With sufficient follow…

In this brief article, the author responds to Brown and Trusty's assertion that based on the deficiencies of existing comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP) research, school counselors need not focus their time and effort on showing causal connections between their programs and measures of student academic achievement. Rather than…

Can this evaluation be saved? More precisely, can this evaluation be saved in such a way that both evaluator and client feel satisfied that their points of view were respected and both agree that the evaluation itself provides valid information obtained in a principled manner? Because the scenario describes a preliminary discussion and no contract…

In a climate of growing accountability for Higher Education, there is an increased demand on assessment to play an evaluative role. National, professional and institutional quality assurance systems expect that the assessment of student performance can be used to evaluate the quality of teachers, learners, programmes and even institutions for the…

Proposes a methodology for analyzing the impacts of social programs on previously unexamined subgroups. The approach estimates the impact of programs on subgroups identified by a postreatment choice while maintaining the integrity of the experimental research design. (SLD)

Describes the Northwestern training program in methodology and evaluation research, discussing its faculty, curriculum, research opportunities, and emotional climate. (SLD)

The effectiveness of children's services is often limited by a series of problems that also impede meaningful evaluation. This article describes and assesses research strategies to enhance the evaluability of a programme for disaffected young people, arguing that they have the potential to improve services more widely. It explores methods for…

Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI), with funding from Gatsby Technical Education Projects (GTEP), ran the "Enabling Access to Further Mathematics" project from 2000 to 2003. This pilot project was designed to provide AS- and A-level students with additional opportunities to study Further Mathematics, through the use of …

The theorists whose work appears in this issue have confronted the exercise presented to them in vastly different ways. The editors of this journal asked these theorists to consider how they would evaluate the Bunche-Da Vinci program, and to make and specify assumptions about the program context. The primary task, however, was to describe "a…

In this article, the authors discuss program evaluation of intervention studies when the outcome of interest is collected routinely at equally spaced intervals of time. They illustrate concepts using data from the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study, where the outcome is state per capita tobacco consumption. States differ widely in mean…

This article examines the nuances of conducting evaluation of and in nonformal education programs and settings. The author examines a set of universal evaluation issues--evaluator role, stakeholder involvement, program theory, capacity building, strategy selection, and evaluation use--as they occur and interact within nonformal education…