The article demonstrates how information managers at institutions of higher education can develop a checklist for evaluating the usability and effectiveness of institutional data and information. Three primary personnel roles (technicians, analysts, users) and five primary activities (selection, capture and storage, manipulation and analysis,…

Analyzed are the results of individual interviews with participants in the Indiana Global Education Program, which developed teacher in-service training sessions, dissemination networks, materials, and resource centers to strengthen global education in Indiana schools. This is the second phase of the evaluation study. In phase 1 questionnaires…

Evaluations occur within a political decision-making mileau, where multiple stakeholders are contending for limited funds. Given the subjective basis of empirical information, different conclusions or recommendations about a program may result from different ideological, theoretical, and disciplinary perspectives. The logic behind the…

This report describes a four-day institute funded by the U.S. Office of Education to increase the utilization of government publications by extending the knowledge of academic reference librarians about them. Librarians from 25 universities attended the institute. Discussion of the use of government publications was divided into three broad…

The usefulness of providing specific information and a progress/feedback mechanism to control utility usage in community-based, halfway houses for dependent-neglected and for delinquent adolescents was explored. The investigation was carried out in a random sample of 12 houses of an Arizona facility, divided into equivalent groups of three houses.…

Whether initiated by law, regulation, or administrative direction, evaluations have political purposes. Improvement, the classic purpose of evaluation, is most faithfully observed when the importance, funding, and constituency of a program are small. If something is wrong, or if the program's existence is threatened, evaluation can become a weapon…

Evaluability assessment is a descriptive and analytic process intended to produce a reasoned basis for proceeding with an evaluation of use to both management and policymakers. It was jointly developed by the members of the program evaluation group of the Urban Institute between 1968 and 1978. The approach begins by obtaining management's…

A SURVEY WAS TAKEN OF THE AUDIENCE OF THE REGENTS EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION PROJECTS PROGRAMS. RESULTS INDICATED THAT "TIME FOR SCIENCE" WAS THE MOST POPULAR TELEVISION PROGRAM, WITH "TELL ME A STORY" IN SECOND PLACE. ONLY 19 PERCENT OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS USED THE PROGRAMS COMPARED TO 45 PERCENT OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. PAROCHIAL…

Diversion projects in California (Los Angeles and Orange Counties) were monitored using client tracking, a simple and basic evaluation procedure. Client tracking was used to provide information about three points in the diversion process: referral to the project, service delivery, and the outcome of the diversion services. The data provided an…

Addresses the issue of utilization of program evaluation information in public schools. Provides perspectives on utilization of evaluation information derived from knowledge utilization theory and research. Describes a set of program evaluation guidelines. Reports a meta-evaluation of the application of the guidelines in public schools. (Author)

Ways to monitor staff development programs include: (1) counting the number of participants; (2) obtaining participant reactions to programs; and (3) tracking participants by needs, objectives, and inservice topics. A needs assessment model of staff development focuses on information utilization, program impact, and evaluation approaches. (JN)

Summarizes a report from Northwestern University that reviewed Federal evaluation practices of federally supported educational programs at the national, state, and local levels. Considers: (1) evaluation purposes and methods; (2) evaluators' capabilities; (3) use of evaluation results; and (4) ways that evaluation procedures/practices can be…

An information feedback model and an ideology of evaluation are posed and contrasted with experiences in evaluation research. Impact on policy is the criterion for success of an evaluation and political constraints block this impact. Some ways social researchers might conceptualize and construct an appropriate base of power are considered.…

A study examined the types of outcomes that are currently measured in postsecondary vocational education and the uses to which data on institutional, program, and student outcomes are being put. Personnel from 54 of the 63 two-year institutions in 25 states that were originally contacted were interviewed. The respondents represented institutions…

Addressed to professionals involved in program evaluation, this working paper covers various aspects of evaluation planning, including the following: planning as a sociotechnical process, steps in evaluation planning, program planning and implementation versus evaluation planning and implementation, the literacy system and its subsystems, and some…