The ERS Standard for Program Evaluation encompass front-end analysis, evaluability assessment, formative evaluation, impact evaluation, program monitoring, and evaluation of evaluation. Written as simple admonitory statements, the Standards are organized into sections on formative and negotiation, structure and design, data collection and…

It is argued that employment data provide a useful and flexible metric to assess social impact. Problems and advantages with the traditional use of population statistics and the use of employment data are discussed, and an example of the use of each is given. (SLD)

Advice for adventure-based counseling (ABC) programs seeking funding includes setting realistic goals, designing an evaluation that matches program resources, and keeping it simple. Low recidivism is most important to grantors. Published research on ABC is scarce, but on-site process research generates useful data, and local schools and agencies…

Education researchers, practitioners, and policymakers alike are committed to identifying interventions that teach students more effectively. Increased emphasis on evaluation and accountability has increased desire for sound evaluations of these interventions; and at the same time, school-level data have become increasingly available. This article…

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) have contributed to test development and validation in counseling psychology, but additional applications have not been fully realized. The author presents an overview of the goals, terminology, and procedures of factor analysis; reviews best practices for extracting,…

The Project on Secondary Analysis directed its attention to methodology and policy issues, focusing on reanalysis of existing data (1979-82)--surveys, program evaluations, etc.--as a vehicle for learning how to improve methods of obtaining and analyzing data, designing program evaluations, and constructing policy to enhance the quality and utility…

The Illinois Dissemination Research Project developed a public information brochure on Minimal Competency Testing for distribution to Illinois school boards, teachers and administrators. This method for transmitting research findings to policymaking audiences is called "targeted dissemination." It consists of: (1) translating relevant…

Although previous conceptualizations have made distinctions among two types of research, this paper suggests conceptual distinctions among three types of research: basic, applied, and evaluation. In an evolving field, distinctions are based on recent writings and the elaboration of evaluation research as different in emphasis from basic and…

This report focuses on the results of approximately twenty central studies of compensatory education completed before 1977 and presents the major results of those studies as they relate to important policy questions for Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The results are presented first as they relate to the major tasks of Title…

Reliability estimates support the use of teacher evaluation forms, while validity coefficients do not, thus indicating that the use of responses to teacher evaluation forms in making decisions is ill-advised. (MB)

A 3-dimensional model was developed to assess impact of institutional research studies. Elements are short, intermediate, and long-range time components; acceptance, non response, and rejection actions; and primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences. A variety of criterion measures and instruments have been identified to assist in model…

This article explores some general notions about politics, evaluation, large city districts, and their interrelations. Different segments of the evaluation process are analyzed to isolate specific political elements in operation. (Author/AM)

Investigated utility estimate variability for the selection utility of using the Programmer Aptitude Test to select computer programmers. Comparison of Monte Carlo results to other risk assessment approaches (sensitivity analysis, break-even analysis, algebraic derivation of the distribtion) suggests that distribution information provided by Monte…

Relativism is an inevitable consequence of our interpretive mode of being in the world. This is so for both our daily lives and our professional lives. What does not overly concern us at the former level should likewise not concern us at the latter level. (Author/BJV)

Reports on a program held at the 1986 American Library Association Conference which offered a model for locating and evaluating existing research on libraries. Six guidelines for evaluating research are provided, and small group sessions which evaluated actual research and talked directly with researchers are described. (EM)