Using the evaluation of day care programs at the state level as a basis, this document focuses on the methodology, logistics, politics, and benefits of state-wide efforts, particularly as these efforts relate to the impact of day care services on the children served. Since every evaluation effort must be individually tailored, and each state's day…

The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect funded a project to develop and field-test an evaluation procedure that could be used by interested states or communities to determine the extent of congruity between (1) their provisions for responding to the problems of child abuse and neglect, and (2) provisions prescribed in the Federal Standards…

Research on the implementation of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) included a sample of more than 20,000 people in 16 service delivery areas (SDAs). The random assignment model for the study produced estimates of the impact of the overall JTPA program in this sample of SDAs, plus separate impact estimates for individuals recommended for…

There is a continuing need in evaluation research for the establishment of a relationship between evaluation findings and decision making. A method is proposed for a particular situation: annual funding decisions for projects in a large grant program in vocational education. Outcome and predictive impact variables were ranked by three groups of…

In 1987, a survey report by J. Cannell was published criticizing state reports based on national standardized testing of elementary school students that indicated that all 50 states were above the national average. This phenomenon--known as the "Lake Wobegon Effect"--is analyzed. Technical problems with the study are considered. (TJH)

This report examines current state practices and procedures for assessing vocational education programs in light of the evaluation requirements of the 1976 Vocational Education Act Amendments. The report is based on information obtained through personal and telephone interviews with vocational education administrative personnel in the states,…

This report on the feasibility of the placement rate concept contains a body of knowledge about the limitations and uses of the placement rate concept for comparing and assessing vocational and job training programs offered by different program providers in California. The report is divided into three parts. Part I, the executive summary, is…

Twenty-six papers on evaluation, which were presented at the 1971 American Educational Research Association Convention, are summarized. The papers range from a general overview of evaluation concepts to quite specific evaluative applications. A group of reports concerning state assessment efforts in Florida and Michigan is given separate…

School effectiveness indices (SEIs), based on regressing test performance onto earlier test performance and a socioeconomic status measure, were obtained for eight subject-grade combinations from 485 South Carolina elementary schools. The analysis involved school means based on longitudinally matched student data. Reading and mathematics…

South Carolina's School Incentive Reward Program Program (SIRP) based on year-to-year gains in reading and mathematics achievement, which seemed to have face validity, was evaluated, particularly its use of the relative gains of students in only the highest grade in the school as the basis for the awards. When this requirement was relaxed so that…

This final report summarizes Phase II of the study of employment demand data for agriculture/agribusiness in New York State. Analysis, procedures, findings, recommendations, and products of the study are reported. During Phase II, the final eight months of the study, the data collection was completed; procedures were implemented for conducting…

This handbook is designed to help local and state vocational education evaluation personnel conduct studies to measure the training and job satisfaction of former vocational education students. It consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 explains the rationale, development, and organization of the handbook. Chapter 2 is composed of two commissioned…