A module on disease prevention was created for 4-H volunteer leaders who work with livestock projects in Washington to better prepare them to teach youth about bio-security and its importance in 4-H livestock projects. Evaluation of the module and usage statistics since the module's debut were collected and evaluated. The module increases…

Adoption resulting from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic (CMDC) field days was evaluated using an on-line survey. Respondents reported significant gains in skills because of CMDC, but the gains were similar across skill areas. Adoption was affected by compatibility with the cropping system, relative advantage,…

Application of evaluability assessment by the Cooperative Extension Service of the Department of Agriculture is reviewed. The effort involved five states with six major programs since 1984. Underlying philosophy and methodological considerations are discussed, and background information is provided on the assessment processes and studies…

The user-oriented and utilization-focused evaluation design of the two-year Caribbean Agricultural Extension Project, funded by Aid to International Development, is reviewed. The evaluation scope, stakeholders, evaluation team credibility, official approval of evaluation, and confidence in the evaluation process are addressed, within a…

On the assumption that agricultural extension professionals can do a better job when they know how people feel about their programs, an attitude scale with statements selected to represent degrees of attitude from favorable to unfavorable was administered to 60 farmers in Clinton County, Missouri. Findings indicated an overall positive image…

Program directors and evaluators need to address the important program accountability question of attribution of outcomes. This discussion is a beginning. Starting with some basics, such as the meaning of the program, approaches to program theory development, and the nature of attribution, the paper suggests three types of attribution. An…

An evaluation of the Douglas County (Kansas) Extension Program to determine clientele's level of awareness and acceptance of the program and program strengths and weaknesses, to establish new program directions and a base line for future evaluation efforts, and to develop methodology and materials to be used in evaluation. Procedures, findings,…

A knowledge test covering subject matter of the Beginning Sewing TV series was sent to 344 registrants following the series, to measure the program effectiveness. Although the response was small (38%), characteristics of the viewers were identified: median age of 44.1 years; married for 21.3 years, family size of 3.8, completion of an average of…

Sixty farmers were interviewed to identify their principal sources of agricultural information, their perceptions of Cooperative Extension credibility, and the socioeconomic characteristics affecting their relationship with Extension. Among the presented findings is that extension agents and commercial dealers were used as secondary information…

Interviews with 940 Iowa farm operators and their wives were conducted during 1977 to address the question of perceived extension effectiveness (the degree to which the respondent perceived the Cooperative Extension Service as meeting his/her needs). Two models of organizational effectiveness were advanced and suggested as being consistent with…

This paper outlines the concept of "program" and one set of elements that are considered to make up the program planning process in agricultural extension, and an example of practical program planning in Rhodesia is given. Although there is a wide variety of meanings attached to the term "program" in adult education, it has…

Early MIDNY Project efforts (1966) included work with County Extension staff in three Central New York counties (including Madison) to encourage establishment of county planning organizations to cope with local change problems and enable counties to obtain maximum benefit from regional planning efforts. This was done in Madison County through an…

This paper is the summary of a substantial report presented to the Botswana Ministry of Agriculture. The report evaluates a program of nonformal education provided for women farmers at rural training centers. The analysis reveals that the content of women's courses tends to be wholly domestic. (SSH)

Reviews characteristics of the 4-H program in America. Discusses the Congressional mandate of 1977 which called for evaluation of the program. Briefly reviews historically the controversy surrounding this mandate in terms of the shift in emphasis in the 4-H program which may result from a call for accountability at the national level. (CS)

Discusses applications of evaluation methodology for educational programs to extension evaluation. Reviews alternative evaluation designs, makes specific suggestions for interpreting past evaluation studies, and presents ideas for future extension evaluation. (CS)