Argues that the mood of today's racial climate, the ideological demands of many minority social scientists, and the governmental research and funding policies all come together and suggest a racial change in the search for knowledge, and in the methodology and values of social science research. (Author/JM)

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…

Evaluators often utilize analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) techniques to compensate statistically for the lack of experimental control when assessing the effects of innovative programs implemented in naturalistic settings. In this paper design, analysis, and reporting considerations important to the application of ANCOVA-type techniques in…

There is a growing need for program evaluation in the human services field. Along with this is a need to assess environments in order to plan effective programs. Graduate programs are doing little to prepare students for this task. Instead of training students how to do evaluation, graduate programs stubbornly adhere to the experimental…

The methodological difficulty of evaluating alternative programs in specific, measurable terms is described. Based on an alternative program at Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio, the writer attempted to develop a model for evaluating an alternative program. The following evaluation procedures were selected: (1) attendance and grades prior to…

This report is a followup of an earlier study which attempted to assess the effectiveness of a Montessori program for preschool inner-city children. Data collected from the children over a 3-year followup period is analyzed, and the children's performance is compared with that of various control groups. There was some evidence that children in the…

This chapter presents a number of problems related to designing local-level summative evaluation studies and suggests solutions to these problems. Three general areas are covered. First, many of the motivational, organizational, and attitudinal constraints likely to face the local-level evaluator are discussed. Second, various threats to the…

Evaluation of Head Start has been based on four sources of information: (1) census surveys of children and families served and programs offered, (2) special research, projects on child development and experimental programs, (3) a longitudinal study of the development of low income children, and (4) a series of national evaluation studies.…

A proposal to monitor and summarize the experience that will be gained during the course of the ATS-F Education Satellite Communications Demonstration is described. The goals of the demonstration and the context in which it must be evaluated are discussed in an introduction. Subsequent sections deal with specific analytic approaches proposed, the…

The need for competent formal evaluation programs, particularly for new federally assisted programs, is expressed. Problems in defining educational evaluation and its requirements, in designing such evaluations, and 3 possible sources of faulty conceptual bases for evaluations, are presented. An attempt is made to define evaluation in general, to…

Clarifies a general approach to understanding teaching effectiveness research, outlines the requirements of the kind of research that is believed likely to result in verified generalizations about the primary dimensions along which effective and ineffective teachers vary, and provides an example of the kind of research it is believed is needed.…

Makes a distinction between developmental and remedial programs and suggests reasons for the difficulty in evaluating these programs. Identifies basic limitations in educational research, factors found in successful programs, questions to be considered in selecting and formulating the evaluation design, and five useful educational research…

Conclusion about site-specific determinants of educational outcomes of the controversial longitudinal evaluation of the Follow Through programs (1976) are challenged again by reexamining the Direct Instruction model data. Reanalysis confirms earlier critiques and supports more recent research funding on the relationship between types of…

In this new edition, the author explains quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, and incorporates the viewpoints of various research paradigms (postpositivist, constructivist, transformative, and pragmatic) into descriptions of these methods. Special emphasis is provided for conducting research in culturally complex communities. Each chapter…