Today, nearly forty years after writing centers first began to proliferate, it is worthwhile to reflect on the themes that emerge from empirical material surrounding writing center assessments, for reflecting on these themes may help administrators to refine current assessment practices and scholars to redirect their research. The goal of this…

This article summarizes critical evaluation needs, challenges, and lessons learned in translational research. Evaluation can play a key role in enhancing successful application of research-based programs and tools as well as informing program refinement and future research. Discussion centers on what is unique about evaluating programs and…

The author argues that one of the worst aspects of logical positivism is its attempt to construct a value-free science and to exclude values from the scientific process. (Author/PN)

Reviews current practices and procedures in evaluation research, especially as they influence retrospective studies of extension programs such as 4-H. Discusses how program goals and funding sources affect evaluation, assesses the virtues and limitations of alternative evaluation strategies, and suggests ways of improving evaluation designs. (GC)

Criteria for usefulness of evaluative information have changed and this means the model of evaluation used by extension must meet the new criteria. Evaluation research is now considered the legitimate model for evaluation; it can aid decision makers by providing data for making unpopular decisions. (LRA)

Two questions are addressed in this document: What is worth knowing about Project Follow Through? and, How should the National Institute of Education (NIE) evaluate the Follow Through program? Discussion of the first question focuses on findings of past Follow Through evaluations, problems associated with the use of experimental design and…

Evaluators need new strategies that will support their commitment to science and at the same time preserve the objectivity of the evaluation. The article discusses three strategies, dealing with: philosophical foundations, the subjectivity of the "objects" of the studies, and the subjectivity of the observer. (Author/GDC)

This paper offers answers to nine important questions concerning standard-setting issues and methods: (1) Should normative or content-referenced standards be used? (2) Different standard-setting methods yield different results. What is your reaction to this finding? That of your clients? Does this finding present a problem for the application of…

Problems that face evaluators, including field based evaluations, are discussed. The author states that open communication, access to data, and an ability to be accepted are paramount; knowledge of randomness, robustness and homoscedasticity may be secondary. (Author/PN)

The growing demand for program evaluation in the 1970s gave rise to a need for a comprehensive, carefully developed, objective set of guiding principles for the evaluation process, from initial planning to final report. The Joint Committee on Standards for Education Evaluation was established to meet this need. This broad-based group, representing…

Although important progress has been made in educational evaluation during the past decade new problems believed to be more serious threaten the progress that has been made. These problems are said to be a mixture of logistics and politics and are in large part an outgrowth of the increasing pluralism of American society. (Author/AM)

Threshold analysis (TA) is introduced as an evaluation model. TA converts unknown variables into questions as to whether a given benefit, cost, or success probability is more or less than a threshold, above which the proposed project would be profitable, and below which it would be unprofitable. (Author/PN)

From her review of the final evaluation reports of 81 career education projects, the author notes seven common pitfalls in career education program evaluation. For a related article by this author, see pp75-83 of this issue. (SJL)

In this context, ethics refers to a set of normative standards for resolving dilemmas that policy analysts or evaluators often face with regard to what they should do in performing their roles in the interests of societal desirability. The dilemmas relate to: (1) prediction versus prediction plus prescription; (2) evaluation versus evaluation plus…

Albuquerque's Title I evaluation staff is in the process of generating a comprehensive local evaluation design because it considers the federally required product evaluation unsatisfactory. The required mean-gain comparisons were extended beyond the dimension of program to the dimensions of school, grade, and Title I instructor. This evaluation…