Program providers who do not give refunds should reconsider their policies. Training providers should give all attendees the opportunity to express dissatisfaction, follow up on all complaints immediately and personally, and allow dissatisfied attendees to receive full or partial refunds or attend another session or program without additional…

In spring 1985, the Office of Student Outreach at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) in Illinois initiated a study to determine the effectiveness of their responses to telephone and mail inquiries for information about the college. A survey was mailed to a sample of 420 inquirers, asking about their information needs, their evaluation and use of…

As part of a larger State University of New York study, a survey was conducted by Dutchess Community College (DCC) to gather information from students regarding the availability and quality of programs and services at DCC. An in-class survey, conducted to provide the most representative sample, yielded responses from 760 students in 56 classes for…

A study investigated the influence of various information sources on graduate students' communicative, social, and academic expectations. Specifically, the study examined whether (1) those students who received preentry information about a university from an informal source would perceive that more of their expectations were met than would those…

This study examines the activities which Head Start parents actually engaged in and the facts they learned at the 14th annual conference held in New Orleans in April, 1987 and the 15th annual conference held in Salt Lake City in May 1988. At the 14th annual conference, 70 parents voluntarily attended a workshop advertised in the conference…

In the eleven years since its inception, over four thousand teachers from all grade levels and content areas have studied in the Iowa Writing Project's summer institutes. This paper reports on a study on the ways in which the project influences teachers' beliefs and practices. The study was conducted by means of surveys, interviews, case studies,…

A plan for evaluating teacher training workshops and institutes is presented. Juxtaposition of the target group and the type of evaluation provides the framework for evaluating such a program. Evaluation is formative, aimed at modifying and improving the plan as it is being developed, and summative, assessed at the end of the experience. The use…

The Area Agencies on Aging are the primary federally funded units charged with delivering basic services to older adults. A study of 145 older adults was conducted to determine the extent and effectiveness of services provided by a southern Area Agency on Aging (AAA) to an urban, black, elderly population in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Interview results…

This report summarizes the activities of the first year of a 2-year Lilly Endowment, Inc. sponsored project, which funded nine Indiana school corporations to select and field test current microcomputer software, and presents 53 critical software evaluations based on information gathered from teachers and students. Information provided by the…

Two questions were investigated: (1) would rewording items on a questionnaire for evaluating faculty teaching effectiveness substantially affect students' ratings? and (2) would students' ratings of professors' teaching quality be totally consistent with their ratings of benefits derived from courses? (Author/RC)

Playground development resulting in self-direction, independence, and creativity among children over time can result from a democratic process of planning, construction, and maintenance. Practical experience has shown that using a "democratic committee approach" to playground care, in which school children are responsible for various need areas…

An obvious source of information for assessing mental health program effectiveness comes from clients who have received the services and, indeed, much effort has been devoted to developing data collection instruments which are administered to clients upon completion of treatment. To assess the advantages and disadvantages of three treatment…

Socialization into sport has been viewed as a social learning process through which significant others teach, demonstrate, and reinforce sport roles and behaviors. This social learning paradigm has been synthesized into a social role-social systems approach which combines psychological and sociological indicators (family, peers, school,…

An evaluation was conducted of the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) program at the end of its second year of implementation. Evaluation data were collected in the following ways: regular meetings with project staff; on-site observations of program activities; results from pre and posttesting students; inspection…

An evaluation was conducted of the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) experience-based career education (EBCE) program at the end of a three-year operating period. Evaluation data were collected in the following ways: (1) regular meetings with the project coordinator and EBCE staff; (2) on-site observations of program activities; (3) results from pre- and…