This paper presents information on re-developing an outcome evaluation for a state-funded program providing service coordination utilizing wraparound to youth with severe emotional disturbance (SED) and their families. Originally funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Kentucky IMPACT program has existed statewide since 1990. Changing…

The primary study objective was to develop a statewide system that made use of information about the pre-kindergarten program in combination with kindergarten reading and social outcome measures in order to inform parents about the ability of early childhood programs to prepare children for formal schooling. In order to carry out this objective,…

A summary of legislation concerning educational accountability reveals that 13 States hope to find greater accountability in testing or assessment programs, 7 in planning, programming, budgeting systems, 4 in uniform accounting system, 8 in the evaluation of professional employees, 2 in management information systems, and 1 in performance…

This paper describes the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate a project designed to define a state system of care for meeting the needs of people with concurrent disorders of mental illness and substance abuse. The evaluation was intended to develop a feedback system to provide program implementers with information about…

In 1984, Arizona governmental officials began studying a social problem plaguing both the state and country for many years: "Does a teacher incentive program enhance the profession and student achievement?" Research and evaluation has been underway for over 3 years and is focusing on the parameters of a model which will be reported to policy…

As part of Tennessee's educational needs assessment strategy, a study was conducted to determine parental perceptions of educational needs. In 1971, 3,150 copies of two forms (randomly distributed) of the School Assessment Questionnaire for Parents were distributed to the parents in six target school systems. Data were analyzed using the Sigma-9…

The extent to which evaluation and auditing have converged on procedures in recent years and the extent to which they remain different are examined in the five chapters of this special issue. Different emphases, the question of collaboration with the subjects of inquiry, and issues of routinized performance are explored. (SLD)

Rigorous evaluations of welfare-to-work programs have had a major impact on the formation of policy in the area of welfare reform, but it is not clear whether the high level of evaluation, especially with regard to randomized experiments, and impact can continue. Evaluators must strive for research methodologies that provide results for policy…

This review of a previous article (TM 503 836), concludes that: (1) the evaluation methodology was straightforward; (2) simpler data analysis would have yielded the same conclusions; and (3) exclusion of many experimental schools from data analysis and use of post hoc matching and covariance produced misleading results. (CP)

The Evaluation of Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) systems was designed to provide the U.S. Department of Labor information on how states are designing, implementing, and operating their worker profiling and reemployment services systems for dislocated workers and to compare the effectiveness of different state approaches to…

Educators in North Carolina, recognizing a need to develop a more objective, performance-based teacher evaluation system, determined that evaluation of teachers should have both formative and summative outcomes and should focus on improvement of teacher skills. The Teacher Performance Appraisal System (TPAS), a companion to the North Carolina…

The Illinois Three Phase System should be temporarily retained as an administrative tool to be used in relationships between the Division of Vocational and Technical Education and local education agencies. But it is clear that such a system, with its scope directed toward local school districts, with its lack of outcome assessment, and with its…

It is difficult to base evaluations on concepts irrelevant to state policy making. Evaluation of a multiproject program requires both time and differentiation of method. Data from the California Early Childhood Program illustrate process variables for program component analysis, and research questions for intraprogram comparison. (CP)

A study piloted a new approach to assessing the effects of changes in funding for state grant programs on college assistance. Analysis of Washington's state grant program indicates that an increase in state funds for need-based grants in 1993-1994 resulted in improved within-year persistence in public four-year universities. It is concluded that…

This guide is designed to assist Missouri school district personnel in conducting follow-up studies of special education graduates. The guide outlines the questions that need to be addressed prior to conducting a follow-up study as well as the procedures to complete such a project. Sample follow-up questionnaires are included for districts to…