In order to fill the gap in obtaining hard evidence to test or document the impact of experience-based education on student participants, the Experiential Education Evaluation Project was undertaken May, 1978 and administered to 4,000 students in 33 programs. There were four major types of programs: volunteer service, career internships, outdoor adventure, and community study/political action. Specific purposes were: (1) to define experiential education and develop a typology of programs; (2) to assess impact of experiential education programs on psychological, social and intellectual development of secondary school students; (3) to identify existing measures and instruments and to design new ones for assessing these outcomes; and (4) to use data to identify program variables and practices that were effective in facilitating student development. Five test instruments and two questionnaires were used to measure students' social, psychological and intellectual development. Data were analyzed in two phases: pre-post results were compared for each experimental and comparison group and specific features of programs were examined to assess their influence. Findings included experiential education programs had positive impact on students' psychological, social and intellectual development and characteristics of the experiences of individual students were powerful predictors of growth. (ERB)