Now in its 9th year of implementation, Oklahoma's Career Tech New Teacher Induction (NTI) has an overall retention rate of 82.6%. A team approach is used and collaboration occurs between local administrators, a local mentor, and a higher education representative. This manuscript focuses on 3 years of both qualitative and quantitative data…

The goal of this article is to contribute to the validation of a self-evaluation method, which can be used by schools to evaluate the quality of their Competence Assessment Program (CAP). The outcomes of the self-evaluations of two schools are systematically compared: a novice school with little experience in competence-based education and…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently conducting research and analyses to guide practitioners in making evidence-based program decisions. A meta-analysis of the current research literature on training programs for parents with children ages 0 to 7 years old was recently conducted by CDC behavioral scientists. This…

Scholars, practice professionals, and policymakers should welcome the new era of evidence-based programming and policies, but these constituencies need to be realistic about the complexities, uncertainties, and limitations that lie beneath what could easily become a simplistic process. This paper discusses some of the requirements for the…

The replication of proven social programs is a cost-effective and efficient way to achieve large-scale, positive social change. Yet there has been little guidance available about how to approach program replication and limited development of systems--at local, state or federal levels--to support replication efforts. "Laying a Solid Foundation:…

Recent congressional initiatives seek to focus funds for certain federal social programs on interventions for which randomized experiments show sizable, sustained benefits to participants or society. The private, nonprofit Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy undertook the Top Tier Evidence initiative to help federal programs identify interventions…

The National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) is a professional organization for high schools and colleges that fosters and supports rigorous concurrent enrollment. Established in 1999 in response to the dramatic increase in concurrent enrollment courses throughout the country, NACEP serves as a national accrediting body and…

For too long, educators have been left to their own devices when implementing educational policies, initiatives, strategies, and interventions, and they have longed to see the full benefits of these programs, especially in reading achievement. However, instead of determining whether a policy/initiative is working, educators have been asked to…

Population attributable risk (PAR) estimates have been used in suicide research to evaluate the impact of psychosocial and socioeconomic risk factors, including affective disorders, traumatic life events, and unemployment. A parallel concept of preventive fraction (PF), allowing for estimation of the impact of protective factors and effectiveness…

An important role for school counselors is that of advocate for resources. Grant writing is one way in which school counselors can secure financial resources to develop and maintain school counseling programs. An outline of the grant writing process is provided along with strategies for implementation, potential benefits and challenges, followed…

This paper describes criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of outcomes-based program review. The criteria were generated from a grounded theory analysis of thirteen institutions whose faculty and administrators have been practicing outcomes-based program review from seven to thirty-two years. Examples of the…

Newly-hired faculty and their needs have been studied in various arenas in higher education. However, there is limited research documenting current newly-hired faculty programming in Canadian institutions of higher education. The present study is the second in a series that attempts to capture the various types of professional development programs…

To use environmental program evaluation to increase effectiveness, predictive power, and resource allocation efficiency, evaluators need good data. Data require sufficient credibility in terms of fitness for purpose and quality to develop the necessary evidence base. The authors examine elements of data credibility using experience from critical…

The chapters in this volume set a rich context for understanding the challenges that environmental evaluators face in their everyday work. In particular, the authors highlight the need for responsive, contextual, flexible, adaptive, multidisciplinary, and mixed-methods evaluation approaches. In this chapter, I reinforce their call and further…

The catalytic potential of community-based organizations to promote health, prevent disease, and address racial, ethnic, and socio-economic disparities in local communities is well recognized. However, many CBOs, particularly, small- to medium-size organizations, lack the capacity to plan, implement, and evaluate their successes. Moreover, little…