This article presents an outcome-based model for evaluating school and community programs serving at-risk adolescents, and a cost-effective technique for comparing the progress of youth receiving an intervention with youth in a pseudocontrol group. The outcomes considered most important for success were derived from the literature pertaining to…

This manual, developed in an effort to take the mysticism out of program evaluation, discusses six phases of the program evaluation process. The introduction discusses reasons for evaluation, process and outcome evaluation, the purpose of the handbook, the evaluation process, and the Sequoia United School District Dropout Prevention Program. Phase…

School records; teacher, parent, and child ratings; and children's drawings about family, school, and the program were evaluated for low-income, at-risk children in a school-age child care program and compared to a control group that made no drawings. The drawings provided qualitative data that enriched program evaluation. (SK)

Using data from the evaluation of the Fast Track intervention, this article illustrates three methods for handling attrition. Multiple imputation and ignorable maximum likelihood estimation produce estimates that are similar to those based on listwise-deleted data. A panel selection model that allows for selective dropout reveals that highly…

In 1990, the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development convened a Task Force to guide the work on a new Project on Youth Development and Community Programs. The major goals of this project are to expand the scope and availability of developmentally appropriate, community-based services for young adolescents, particularly those in high-risk…

The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of process-outcome evaluation in a broad-aim social program. Researchers collaborated with program staff to create outcome measures and measures of the services provided. Interventions for different groups of program participants were analyzed, using data on 122 children from…

Examined the implementation of the Success for All early intervention program in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) at four urban elementary schools with 128 high-risk students compared to 136 control participants. Program implementation resulted in higher reading achievement for the at-risk students. (SLD)

Describes the development of CARAS (Computer-Assisted Risk Accountability System), a school-based case management system for at-risk students that is being pilot-tested in several school districts in the state of Washington. Highlights include needs assessment; monitoring and follow-up; problems; program evaluation; and future plans. (Contains two…

This formative evaluation of the Atlantic Street Center's Pre-Teen Bridge Program (P-T Bridge) focused on the academic support and prosocial skill development components of the program. The academic component included one-on-one tutoring, and the prosocial skill component included activities and materials designed to improve social and…

The Fresh Start Minischool (FSMS) program was implemented for students at Frank Ballou High School in Washington, D.C., who had mathematics and reading deficiencies that made success and staying in school unlikely possibilities. The program involved individualized student instruction in four core academic areas (social studies, communications,…

Starting with the 1997-1998 school year, the Direct Instruction Reading/Language Arts Program was implemented in three elementary schools in a northwest urban public school system as a 3-year pilot study to improve the academic performance of at-risk students. Direct Instruction (DI) is aimed at providing effective learning for low-achieving…

An academic enrichment program was designed for a large state university and an experiment conducted to test its effectiveness in enhancing high-risk students' academic performance. Students in the enrichment program significantly outperformed control group students but only within the program's scope. The need for continuing support efforts is…

As demand for after-school services has grown, the public has responded with support for growth in federal, state, and local funding for these services. As in other successful grassroots movements, this high level of support is evident across groups with diverse objectives. Some after-school advocates are mainly interested in increasing the supply…

Summaries are presented of papers from a symposium entitled "The Evaluation of Complex Programs Using Participatory Evaluation" that focused on a comprehensive school service program in a south Texas alternative high school. "Theoretical Framework and Objectives" explores the problems of evaluating such programs. Problems…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study designed to assess two measures of family functioning for families with children with disabilities: the Family Support Scale (FSS) and the Family Resource Scale (FRS). The FSS is an 18-item questionnaire that measures the amount of perceived support given to the parents of young children with…