Details the design and implementation of a rolling review process for community-based adult literacy programs. Describes four steps: documentation to become "review ready," collection of feedback from participants and key informants, site visit by reviewers, and use of the evaluation report as a planning tool. (SK)

Senior staff members at a family foundation share their perspectives, as managers and practitioners, on the ethical challenges and opportunities facing professionals engaged in the evaluation of comprehensive, community-based initiatives and other nontraditional program strategies. (Author/SLD)

Presents an early stage evaluation model that was used to provide a framework to assess the effectiveness of three comprehensive community initiative projects that were put in place in Nebraska in 1996. Discusses challenges of evaluating these broadbased initiatives and pitfalls in using result-based performance evaluation. (SLD)

Argues for maintaining a discovery capacity (both qualitative and quantitative) in evaluations of community-based health and human service programs. Discovery capacity is defined as a mechanism to detect new insights and developments in programs. Cites reasons this capacity is especially important in community-based programs. (SLD)

Describes experiences in developing a multi-program economic evaluation and costing study of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), a widely studied community mental health treatment model. The project description shows how the worlds of research and service delivery can collaborate to come to symbiotic resolutions. (Author/SLD)

Many communities offer programs aimed at improving teen dating skills and knowledge about violence and sexual behavior. This research study evaluates one such program, operated by an interagency collaborative. Each of four participating community agencies provided one hour of curriculum during one week of health class. Lecture, group activities,…

Considered the cooperation and coordination necessary to help youth find a part of their accredited learning experience in the community at large. (Author/RK)

The Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Network is designed to encourage increased community support and influence in schools by providing information about existing early childhood programs to community members and school staffs. Information dissemination, observation of ongoing programs, and project monitoring are planned and supervised by…

Evaluated was the effectiveness of five different schemes for the social rehabilitation of mentally subnormal adults in the community. Available from: Journal of Practical Approaches to Developmental Handicap, 3304-33rd Street N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2L 2A6. (SBH)

After a brief discussion of the terms implementation and monitoring, this article illustrates a strategy for monitoring program implementation. The strategy, called model-guided method, offers a way to develop conceptual and empirical specifications for testing the adequacy of a program implementation. It also provides feedback to program…

Describes a nutrition education program that, in addition to school-based activities for children in grades K-3, provided newsletters for parents, articles in local newspapers, food store displays, and a cable television program. Results of the program's evaluation are also reported and discussed. (JN)

The response of the Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario) community to the Indochinese refugee movement, in which key community workers decided to use a community development approach to meet resettlement needs, is examined. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed, and the Kitchener-Waterloo experience is analyzed in terms of its…

This implementation guide is designed for community-based organizations interested in developing programs similar to Plain Talk, a neighborhood-based initiative aimed at helping adults, parents, and community leaders develop the skills and tools needed to communicate effectively with youth about reducing adolescent sexual risk taking. The guide is…

A merger of school and community programs provides a more comprehensive and realistic approach to health education. (LH)

Outcomes evaluation of community partnerships to prevent substance abuse poses many methodological challenges. The nine articles of this special section illustrate the variety of approaches evaluators have taken to studies that are often complicated because of small sample size. (SLD)