The evaluation literature suggests that evaluation studies may be underutilized by policy makers. This possibility has stimulated a good deal of evaluation use research. However, most of the research has not been theoretically grounded. This paper reviews the key propositions of communications theory and related previous research, as they are…

Major career education concepts were infused into the total curriculum in District II of Richland County in Columbia, South Carolina. Six major areas of emphasis were identified reflecting district thinking and national trends: self awareness; decision-making; career awareness; attitudes and appreciations; economic awareness; and educational…

The underlying logic and usefulness of true performance monitoring and its potential contribution to program evaluation are examined. It provides an accumulating data base to serve many research designs and generally supports the evaluation process. Increased emphasis on performance monitoring will lead to more cost-effective, policy-relevant…

When charter schools first arrived on the American educational scene, few observers suspected that within two decades thousands of these schools would be established, serving almost a million and a half children across forty states. The widespread popularity of these schools, and of the charter movement itself, speaks to the unique and chronic…

In the past several years, evaluation researchers and practitioners have become concerned about the apparent failure to utilize evaluation information. A simplified model of decision making is presented, in which the decision maker is confronted with a situation requiring a choice, generates potential solutions, assesses the probabilities that a…

Three specific points are made about helping program managers improve their use of information: (1) program managers appear to be the easiest group for evaluators to work with to improve use; (2) realistically, these managers may be the most difficult group to help; and (3) several strategies exist that evaluators use to help program people…

A survey of principals and superintendents from variously sized districts revealed that program evaluations were generally found useful (particularly by superintendents) but were judged by many principals to be incapable of measuring some important program effects. Administrators tended to interact infrequently with evaluators, placing primary…

Four fundamental issues in program evaluation are discussed: (1) evaluations involve stakeholders with diverse interests; (2) data involve some degree of subjectivity; (3) meaningful interpretation of results requires understanding of the assumptions on which results are based; and (4) programs are dynamic and require flexible evaluations.…

The philosophical and psychological foundations of the resistance evaluators encounter when attempting to implement evaluation efforts are explored. Problems in the evaluative paradigm are presented, and suggested coping strategies are discussed. (Author/GK)

Evaluators vary in their propensity to make direct valuative judgments of program worth. The decision to include recommendations with a report or provide merely descriptive evaluation depends on individuals' perspectives concerning the nature of reality, truth and values, human agency, and informational utility. (SLD)

This is a workshop simulation and interpretation guide designed for Title I teachers and district personnel. The participants should have some experience with the norm-referenced evaluation model. They learn to interpret normal curve equivalents (NCE) and NCE gains. Participants are led through an interpretive hierarchy from simple, descriptive…

This empirical study has examined by chi-square procedures the relationship between educational level of students and the degree to which they will endorse various sources of information concerning drug problems. (Author)

Primary purpose of evaluation is to cause educators to look at the process and the product of education and to utilize evaluation data as a corrective tool. (Authors)

The use of evaluation findings for program improvement and decision making was explored with the philosophy that different levels of information use occur--from altering perceptions of a program, to influencing major decisions about it. The strategy of deliberately involving potential information users such as clients, sponsors, and other…

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…