Recent studies have confirmed that repeated wartime deployment of a parent exacts a toll on military children and families and that the quality and functionality of familial relations is linked to force preservation and readiness. As a result, family-centered care has increasingly become a priority across the military health system. FOCUS…

This qualitative study explores a cohort professional development experience that brought new teachers together every few weeks from across an urban school district. Observation data were analyzed through Wenger's (1998) "Communities of Practice" social learning framework. The purpose was to examine how a cohort can be a valuable resource of new…

This article outlines the U.S. Army's effort to empirically validate and assess the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program. The empirical assessment includes four major components. First, the CSF scientific staff is currently conducting a longitudinal study to determine if the Master Resilience Training program and the Comprehensive…

Early school leavers cannot access school-based sex education programmes, increasing their vulnerability to sexual health issues. This study evaluated a culturally-sensitive and target-orientated sex education programme involving this group. Early school leavers were recruited from two branches of the Chinese Young Men's Christian Association in…

Over the past two decades, inner-city communities have witnessed double-digit joblessness among an increasing number of residents who are relegated to the status of the "permanent" unemployed or the permanent underclass. These residents cannot hope to be competitive in a changing and evolving labor market. Relying on public assistance, low-wage…

Few formal post-secondary educational programs in the United States focus on youth work, thus youth workers often enter the field with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of experience working with youth. Drawing on mounting evidence that quality youth service requires skilled staff, professional-development opportunities have received…

This study evaluated the efficacy of 2 brief personalized feedback interventions aimed at reducing drinking among mandated college students. Results indicated significant reductions in drinking for students in both conditions. Findings provide support for web-based interventions for mandated college students. (Contains 1 table.)

The prevalence of overweight children and adults has been increasing steadily over the past three decades. Behaviors related to diet and nutrition are often established in early childhood. Toddlers most often develop healthy eating habits through parent modeling. Due to the steady increase in obesity in children, there is a clear need for…

Most of the applied drama and theatre projects being carried out in African contexts tend to be one-off events with limited follow-up in terms of building the capacity of target communities and organising them for action. Besides bringing people together for workshops, performances and post-performance discussions, such projects simply pass by…

Evaluating and communicating the results of 4-H programs are critical for Extension. The measuring of the goals and objectives guide the program. It helps with issues in Extension's accountability, program direction, and even one's personal satisfaction. This article focuses on a quick, easy, and exciting method to conduct program evaluation using…

The 2001 renewal of the United States' Title I program instituted the Supplemental Educational Services (SES) program, through which students attending schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for 3 consecutive years are offered tutoring in core subjects. Although some SES evaluations have measured provider effects on student…

Quality audit has become the dominant means of assessing the quality of university teaching and learning. This paper addresses this international trend through the analysis of academics' perception of quality audit. It presents a new way to understand quality audit through the interpretation of how frontline academics in England perceived and…

The purpose of this paper is to provide a basis for judging the adequacy of evaluation plans or, as they are commonly called, evaluation designs. The authors assume that using the procedures suggested in this paper to determine the adequacy of evaluation designs in advance of actually conducting evaluations will lead to better evaluation designs,…

Purpose: In recent years, the literature on program evaluation has examined multi-stakeholder evaluation, but training evaluation models and practices have not generally taken this problem into account. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap. Design/methodology/approach: This study identifies intersections between methodologies and approaches…

Program evaluation is recognized as an essential skill set for practitioners in service-related fields, such as education, nonprofit management, social work, and public health. Recently, the need for a public workforce trained in evaluation has increased and is driven primarily by our nation's emphasis on accountability during a time when…