In response to the well-documented need for rigorous evaluations of faculty development programs and increasing demands for institutional accountability, University of Minnesota's Office of Information Technology (OIT) researchers have developed an approach to program evaluation that assesses individual level changes to participants' attitudes,…

Social workers and paraprofessionals serve psychiatric populations at high risk for suicide, but may receive little training related to suicidality. This study evaluated a suicide awareness and prevention training workshop for providers working with mentally ill homeless and previously homeless adults. Trainees attended a half day of training, and…

In 1997, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to pass legislation establishing an education and support program for family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care providers. This article describes the Minnesota Family, Friend and Neighbor Grant Program and findings from an evaluation of the programs and a curriculum scan of materials used in…

In efforts to reform the child welfare system, agency leaders must involve staff at all levels; yet, little research has been done to determine which organizational factors encourage or inhibit staff engagement. Employees from an urban child welfare agency were invited to complete a survey regarding organizational effectiveness and its influence…

The Vulnerable Infants Program of Rhode Island (VIP-RI) was established as a care coordination program to promote permanency for substance-exposed newborns in the child welfare system. Goals of VIP-RI were to optimize parents' opportunities for reunification and increase the efficacy of social service systems involved with families affected by…

Of 79 overweight adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities who participated in a weight loss intervention, 73 completed the 6-month diet phase. The emphasis in the intervention was consumption of high volume, low calorie foods and beverages, including meal-replacement shakes. Lower calorie frozen entrees were recommended to control…

Physician reentry is defined by the American Medical Association (AMA) as: "A return to clinical practice in the discipline in which one has been trained or certified following an extended period of clinical inactivity not resulting from discipline or impairment." Physician reentry programs are creating an avenue for physicians who have left…

A sample of educational evaluators was asked to design an outcomes-focused evaluation of a school program that aims to improve the academic achievement and self-esteem of students. Evaluators provided detailed descriptions of their evaluation design and methodology in their responses. These descriptions were coded and analyzed to determine the…

Sweden has a high level of student influence. At Lund University, students are not viewed as counterparts but partners in the university's activities. Lund University has carried out Student Satisfaction Surveys (barometers) since the 1990s and an overview has shown that an evaluation culture has grown during the past decade. It is, however, time…

This study examined the phenomenon of second-career teachers. The participants in this study shared their reflections concerning the motivating factors and common experiences associated with leaving established professions in order to pursue careers in teaching. The study also inquired into the process involved in professional preparation as well…

Objective: This pilot study evaluated effects of "Lunch is in the Bag" on behavioral constructs and their predictive relationship to lunch-packing behaviors of parents of young children. Methods: Six child care centers were pair-matched and randomly assigned to intervention (n = 3) and comparison (n = 3) groups. Parent/child dyads participated.…

The author focuses on issues related to the implementation and acceptance of a new evaluation unit within an organization. Specifically, the author discusses role clarity of the evaluation unit with respect to overlapping roles and the reach of the evaluation unit. The author also discusses the push-and-pull relationship between organization and…

Peer education on a college campus may be an ideal nexus for two imperatives facing higher education over the next decade: (1) an increasingly needy student population; and (2) a decreasing level of support for program growth. Despite its long history as a method of instruction, both in and out of the classroom, the benefits of peer education are…

In contrast to typical National Science Foundation program evaluations, the Utah State Math Science Partnership-Research, Evaluation and Technical Assistance Project (MSP-RETA) provided technical assistance (TA) in two forms: direct TA for up to 10 projects a year, and professional development sessions for a larger number of project staff. Not…

Universities across the nation have been called upon to provide evidence of student learning through direct means of assessment. Value-added assessment, which aims to document the development of student learning from the beginning of the university experience to the end, has been called "accountability's new frontier" by the American…