This project tracked the mid-term evaluation processes, practices, and products of a multinational program to reduce at-risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS among children in Kenya, Tanzania, and Haiti. It focused on participant and community perceptions; program effectiveness in promoting abstinence and monogamy decisions; and factors supporting ongoing…

This article addresses a void in the literature about social work research and evaluation (R&E) designs, in particular related to the quality of its published work. Data were collected by reviewing three empirically oriented journals, "Research on Social Work Practice", "Journal of Social Service Research", and "Social Work Research" over three…

Although outcomes monitoring and the collection of other performance data holds benefits for service managers and policy makers, the extent to which these data are collected by South African substance abuse service providers is unknown. To describe (i) the extent to which substance abuse service providers in South Africa monitor and evaluate their…

The purpose of this article is to share information about the Costa Rican Marine Education Programme in relation to the quality criteria for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Schools. We found that the application of these criteria is feasible, not only to the organisation and management of schools that are looking to become ESD Schools,…

The role of evaluation is to determine whether a project achieves what it sets out to do. Using a strategy often referred to as "backwards planning" or "backwards research design," the evaluation process operationalizes project goals and then, asking the question "What would success look like?" identifies measurable indices of success (Friedman,…

This study evaluated the Enhancing Relationships in School Communities (ERIS) Project which aimed to promote constructive conflict resolution (CR) in Australian primary school communities through professional development for core teams of three-five staff (n = 33 teachers). Twelve schools were randomly assigned to a full intervention (FI) group or…

The papers in this dialogue help develop evaluation as a field (both in South Asia and other regions). What comes through in all of the papers is both humility of where evaluation is as a field and imagination and ambition of where evaluators could be in the near future. Reading the papers in this forum makes them enthusiastic about being…

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) represents an increasingly popular pedagogic approach that has evolved in response to the recognised need for plurilingual competence in Europe. In this article, we present key findings from one of the first large-scale, multidimensional CLIL evaluation projects. We begin by outlining the emergence…

In the author's position as director of institutional effectiveness and currently as a department assessment chair, he relates that he has found it useful to use an analogy between flossing one's teeth and instituting assessment. There are more similarities between flossing and assessment than one might imagine. In this article, the author…

Training is widely believed to be an important element in promoting good child welfare practice. Scholarly attention to training, however, has been limited. To facilitate further development of child welfare training, in this article, we discuss the importance of conceptualization in the design and evaluation of training projects, offer a…

In many parts of the world, the state education system is accompanied by a shadow system that mirrors the school curriculum. In England, most provision in the shadow system is through private, one-to-one tutoring, offered by those working independently and through local, regional and national agencies. International surveys indicate that shadow…

This qualitative study identified key factors associated with exemplar service-learning programs at six community colleges across the United States. The purpose of this case study was to determine why these programs have sustained over time and to better understand how administrators and faculty meet shifting demands for service-learning. The…

To provide greater support for students as they transition to ninth grade, the Texas Legislature funded the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention (TNGTI) grant program. TNGTI grantees implemented a variety of supports to at-risk students transitioning to ninth grade, including a summer transition program, an early warning data system, and…

The main objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effects of intervention programs on school attendance behaviors of elementary and secondary school students to inform policy and practice. The specific questions guiding this study were: (1) Do indicated programs with a goal of increasing student attendance affect…

This book is about the threats to education quality in the developing world that cannot be explained by lack of resources. It reviews the observed phenomenon of service delivery failures in public education: cases where programs and policies increase the inputs to education but do not produce effective services where it counts--in schools and…