This publication is intended for three primary audiences: international development professionals who want to define "workforce" for program design purposes, those who seek information about field activities, and those who want to reflect on the implementation of successful, high impact programs--whether they were broad-based or…

The article suggests ways to make use of regression discontinuity to plan, implement, and evaluate gifted programs. It outlines how research data can illuminate rather than obscure program decisions. Making efficient use of multiple criteria identification data is discussed along with making program effectiveness decisions without using a control…

Outlines a 10-step process for designing performance improvement systems which is intended to reduce time spent on the project, to assure client approval, and to assure management support. Client participation with the consultant throughout the process is stressed as the key to success. (LRW)

This paper discusses the design of a program by the Nashville (Tennessee) Center for Independent Living (CIL) to train consumers with disabilities in employing, training, supervising, and firing personal attendants. The program, supported by the Tennessee Developmental Disabilities (DD) Planning Council, provided an opportunity for program design…

Program development evaluation should focus on articulating theoretical rationales for program design and activities. To assist the managers of 17 school-based delinquency prevention projects (School Action Effectiveness Study) in developing theories of action, the Program Development Evaluation (PDE) method was utilized. To construct the…

In response to increasing costs and growing reliance on external funding for college faculty research, a plan for promoting faculty success in gaining financial support for research is proposed. The plan is based on information in the literature concerning prerequisites for success in getting external support. (Author/MSE)

Described back-end synthesis as the creation and integration of the secondary intervention required for efficient and cost-effective implementation of performance improvement programs. Involving analysis, design, evaluation, revision, and implementation, this process is related to front-end analysis, and a sample application in a performance…

Project Follow Through involved a diverse and major set of implementation problems: (1) The initial program mandate for an action program clashed with the later switch to an experimental focus; (2) The selection of curriculum rather than structural changes as the major intervention led to greater uncertainty regarding the practices to be…

The effects of various gifted programs on the self-concepts and depressive symptoms of 82 gifted and talented fifth- and sixth-grade students were evaluated. Sixth-grade gifted groups (pull-out and self-contained) scored higher on self-concept than did nongifted groups. No effects on depressive symptoms were found. (DB)

Describes how two methodologies for analyzing and improving performance--performance engineering and organization mapping--were used in a case study involving the purchasing department of an electric utility. Highlights include the establishment of a model of the desired results, measuring existing performance, and the designing of an improvement…

In 1975, the Columbus Council of the Navy League of the United States provided a grant to The Ohio State University in support of a state survey to determine the level of understanding of marine information among the public school children of Ohio. In addition, it supported a summer workshop in the Humanities of the Seas conducted for teachers in…

This paper, for practitioners and researchers, is based on a computer search of the ERIC database and other references, and organizes and summarizes the literature on needs assessment in counseling, guidance, and personnel services. Following the brief introduction, a definition of terms used in the paper and a discussion of the purposes and…

Community-based educational programs for older adults are difficult to evaluate due to randomization and control factors. In order to investigate, under a quasi-experimental research design, the contribution of an educational program on retirement issues to participants' quality of life, and to study the program enrollment patterns, 21 people…

This paper focuses on public school program development to correct the effects of segregation. It suggests concrete measures and plans for the Cleveland Leadership Academy, which is designed to enhance instruction and access. Cleveland City School District's Remedial Order is a court-approved blueprint for desegregation that mandated management…

The Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) project is a joint Armed Services coordinated effort to develop and evaluate a system for automated, adaptive administration of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The CAT is a system for administering personnel tests that differs from conventional test administration in two major…