The methodology and design of the process evaluation system of the Pawtucket Heart Health Program (an 11-year project for changing/documenting change in cardiovascular disease risk status of a northeastern city's residents) are described. Examples of the system's use are provided. The maintenance of such a system without substantial evaluation…

Limiting data collection to a sample group is one way to increase effectiveness in dealing with data. The paper describes how to draw a sample group (random sampling, stratified random sampling, purposeful sampling, and convenient or opportunity sampling) and discusses how to determine the size of the sample group. (SM)

We rely a great deal on the schematic descriptions that represent experimental and quasi-experimental design arrangements, as well as the discussions of threats to validity associated with these, provided by Campbell and his associates: Stanley, Cook, and Shadish. Some of these designs include descriptions of treatments removed, removed and then…

This data summary presents data from the U.S. Department of Education's National Educational Technology Trends Study (NETTS). NETTS is a multi-year evaluation that documents the implementation of the Enhancing Education through Technology (EETT) program from fiscal year (FY) 2002 to FY 2007. This summary reviews the methods used to collect and…

Institutions of higher education have developed a host of interventions to increase the retention of first-year students whose academic performance is inadequate. This study evaluated the overall effectiveness of an intervention strategy designed for first-year students on academic probation at a mid-western research university. A…

In response to a request by the Secondary Education Sub-Committee of its Achievement Task Force, the Council of the Great City Schools surveyed its membership in the fall of 2007 to gather information on a variety of high school reform issues. An electronic file of the survey was emailed to the curriculum directors in each member district in…

An alternative evaluation procedure is critiqued that utilizes both a time-series design and a time-series data analytic procedure. The bases for this critique are the authors' experiences and reflections upon their involvement in a recently completed evaluation project that used a time-series approach. The study was a sixteen month evaluation of…

This paper discusses a role group sharing meeting held July 30-31, 1979 in Windsor, Connecticut, and attended by documentors and evaluators. Examined, in documentation form, are issues and learnings from the sharing meeting and an analysis of the design of the meeting, which was a pilot for other network role group meetings anticipated during the…

This report, prepared by the staff of the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs of the U. S. Senate, is intended as a profile of the "half-full, half-empty plate which the Federal food programs represent to the nation's poor." The report focuses on various aspects of poverty and hunger such as: (1) poverty in the nation--the poverty line,…

Oregon's educational needs were identified through 120 in-depth interviews with the general public, educators, students, and dropouts. The result of these interviews was a list of 27 critical needs. An interview instrument was developed around these critical needs, and was administered to a statewide sample of the population of Oregon who…

Detailed descriptions of the data analysis procedures used in Project EDNEED (Empirical Determination of Nationally Essential Educational Data) are contained in this volume, the last of a five-volume final report. Results of the application of procedures and a narrative interpretation of the results are included. Priority rankings of 323 questions…

Nine steps are reviewed in the decision to buy computers and software for schools: define your needs, compile detailed requirements listing, develop a request for proposal, identify vendors, submit request for proposal to various vendors, compare results, identify several possible systems, set up live demonstrations of software and hardware,…

This guide gives elementary school educators the tools they need to get answers to their questions about program evaluation. It shows how to use information to work more effectively and efficiently, and its explains how to use program evaluation techniques to make sure that the solutions selected truly solve the problems of interest. The first two…

Participation in the Head Start program has had a favorable effect on the program participants in all of the major areas of development covered by the pupil rating instrument used in this assessment. (Author)

Professional evaluators are often called upon to analyze data produced by a catastrophically inadequate evaluation design. A remedial strategy involving diagnosis of error, application of a corrective procedure and sensitization of program personnel of the need for a more sophisticated stance, is proposed and illustrated with a case study.…