Extension educators today face several challenges in designing, delivering, and evaluating programs. Achieving successful program outcomes is becoming increasingly difficult. Educators must choose amongst a wide variety of technology and delivery methods, all while facing resource constraints such as cost, time, and materials. Educators require a…

Nearly all private, government and non-governmental organizations that receive government funding to run social or health promotion programs in the United States are required to conduct program evaluations and to report findings to the funding agency. Reports are usually due at the end of a funding cycle and they may or may not have an influence…

Administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Drug Free Communities Support Program (DFC) is a federal grant program that provides funding to community-based coalitions that organize to prevent youth substance use. Since the…

The author, a federal manager who leads development and maintenance of evaluation for specific public health programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tells the story of developing an evaluation unit in the Office on Smoking and Health. Lessons about managing evaluation, including his practices and related principles, are…

This article describes a consulting project with an advocacy organization to raise cigarette excise taxes in Kentucky and to improve public health in the state. We describe the theoretical underpinnings of the project, the client, and our consultation process, objectives, products, and results.

The clash between Western and Indigenous ways of knowing has been epitomized by the "parachuting model" of the Western researcher who drops onto the reservation, collects data, and leaves, never to be heard from again. The strengths of indigenous science, for example, observation and contextual factors, are either ignored or…

Describes a state agency's approach to developing and improving the self-assessment and accountability of local programs overseen and funded by a large statewide program. This self-assessment approach to evaluating local tobacco control programs in California is "empowerment evaluation" in action. (SLD)

This project was designed to specifically apply a health planning management system to a school based health education risk reduction program. Additionally, the Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Project assisted youth in making informed decisions about the use/abuse of alcohol and cigarettes. Program components included a related knowledge base;…

Describes a method that uses program participants' compliance with program instructions as a means of classifying participants and in that way obtains a randomized control group for a subset of participants. Illustrates two variations of the method through a large smoking-intervention project. (SLD)

In this article, the authors discuss program evaluation of intervention studies when the outcome of interest is collected routinely at equally spaced intervals of time. They illustrate concepts using data from the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study, where the outcome is state per capita tobacco consumption. States differ widely in mean…

Describes the conceptual design, research framework, evaluation components, and analytic strategies that are guiding the evaluation of a demonstration-research effort, the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study (ASSIST). The ASSIST evaluation is a unique analysis of the relationships among social context, public-health activity, tobacco use, and…

Presents a descriptive analysis of 13 nationally available smoking cessation programs. To gather data, researchers used a review form that measured program setup, duration, cost, techniques, success rate, availability, and discussion of issues involved with smoking cessation. Researchers also examined program manuals and interviewed program…

This review summarizes end-of-program quit rates from 6 controlled and 10 field-based Not on Tobacco (NOT) evaluations. Approximately 6,130 youth from 5 states and 489 schools participated. Intent-to-treat and compliant quit rates were calculated at 3 months postbaseline (end-of-program). Results from controlled evaluations revealed an aggregate…

To influence children in deciding not to smoke, a program, Wisconsin Athletes Against Cancer, was designed and implemented in grades four through eight. Athletes served as role models and delivered anti-smoking messages. Athlete preparation, the presentation format, and feedback and evaluation methods are discussed. (JN)

Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society. Tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths in the United States and the cause of premature death of approximately 2 million individuals in developed countries. Smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths and is a major cause of heart disease, cerebrovascular…