Summarizes presentations at a symposium (Denver, CO, June 5, 1998) on college drinking which examined: the impact of developmental issues of late adolescence; influence of college drinking on human biology and on substance abuse in later life; student drinking during the academic year; and campus program evaluation. Concluded there was a need for…

The Situated Evaluation Framework for continuing professional education programs situates the learner and knowledge assessment at the junction of three contexts: educational, practice, and evaluation. The framework incorporates the following components of evaluation theory: programming, valuing, knowledge, and utilization. (SK)

Advocates a shift in the foundation on which youth policies are based-from fear to hope, and prisons to prevention. Provides two examples of National Crime Prevention Council programs that are built on such a foundation and discusses their effectiveness. (Author/GCP)

The most important result of training is the satisfaction of customers who deal with trainees when they return to their jobs. Customer reaction sheets are easy and inexpensive to create, administer, tabulate, and interpret. (JOW)

Examines the effectiveness of a training program designed for physical therapists (N=19) to aid them in the enhancement of patient education. Five therapist-skills were tested. After the training only a minority of the trained skills appeared to have improved. Results show that the training program was not very effective. (Author/MKA)

Review of research on employee relocation in the United Kingdom and North America identified barriers to relocation and types of personal and financial support provided by organizations. Force-field analysis assessed the relationship between barriers and organizational interventions, particularly in UK local government agencies. (SK)

In the last 10 years, there has been increased use of case study methodology, with accompanying refinement and improvement of the methods. Case studies have become legitimate research methods in evaluation, but it is too soon to say whether improvements in methodology are really resulting in improvements in the case studies conducted. (SLD)

Empowerment evaluation is defined as a process that encourages self-determination among the recipients of a program evaluation. This article contains a theoretical framework of empowerment evaluation, a discussion of methodological issues, and suggestions for operational considerations for evaluators who wish to implement empowerment evaluation.…

Web tools are an inexpensive and easy way to learn about participants' views of their training. Options for evaluating and reinforcing training programs include e-mail, audio teleconferencing, Web-based surveys, and Web conferencing. (JOW)

Discusses current issues in theory-driven evaluation from the perspective of the evaluation practice literature. Confirmatory program evaluation is proposed as one way to use theory, in combination with quantitative analytical techniques, to assess the effects of social and educational programs. An illustration is provided in the evaluation of a…

A student satisfaction survey in a British college used input from the student charter and delivered questionnaires on paper at one campus (289 responses) and through an intranet at another (71 responses). Issues identified were embedded in the college's quality framework. (SK)

Describes and presents evaluation evidence of a long-term clinical supervision program for school counselors. Results show that peer group clinical supervision of school counselors is a feasible route to enhanced perceptions of professionalism. Participants viewed their peer group clinical supervision program to be a worthwhile and valuable…

Articles in this special issue are reviews that focus on issues related to the evaluation of addiction treatment outcomes over longer term followup periods (2 years or more). The primary conclusion that can be drawn is that research evaluations of substance abuse treatment should reflect, to a greater degree, the chronic nature of addiction. (SLD)

Reevaluation of Bookstart, a British project to promote library use and book sharing with babies, found that 53% of pilot families had never used the library; younger caregivers were less likely to use libraries. However, data may have been miscalculated if parents used their own instead of children's library cards. Many parents spoke positively…

Describes the use of transformative learning theory to evaluate a family-empowerment project focusing on life skills (N=34). Results reveal evidence of transformative learning outcomes such as an empowered sense of self and new connections with others. Participants also spoke of factors built into the program designed to foster transformative…