Peace Corps experience and 3 years as director of the Teacher Corps are explained to provide background for the author's seven specific propositions essential to the success of Federally-supported programs for change. (MF)

Reprinted from "Parent's Magazine." (EL)

Five activities are proposed for a federal evaluation agenda for the 1980s: (1) measuring net impact of social program cost containment; (2) implementing and evaluating new social experiments; (3) examining appropriateness of current social programs; (4) testing alternatives to established programs; and (5) developing procedures to ensure…

This article considers the advantages and disadvantages of having evaluation users increase the specificity of evaluation requirements through a review of legislative requirements behind several congressionally mandated national-level evaluations, and an in-depth examination of one congressionally mandated evaluation in which very specific design…

Presents the organizing framework used in evaluating the National Nutrition Education and Training Program (NET) and summarizes the descriptive, evaluative, and meta-evaluative findings. Concludes that positive effects on children's nutrition-related knowledge have resulted from different nutrition education programs. (DC)

Critiquing the stakeholder idea, the author states: if government chooses to take account of competing views in social program evaluation, it can get a better result if it encourages the competing views to find a voice of their own, not to speak through the government's chosen instrument. (Author/PN)

Two issues in the Holtzman Project bear examination and reconsideration: (1) the recommendation for the use of field experiments as an exclusive "authorized" evaluation design, and (2) the focus on the needs of the federal client, and the apparent lack of concern for clients at the state and local levels. (GC)

Reviews the process employed in evaluating the national 4-H program. Holds that the evaluation design was influenced by political, rather than methodological, concerns. Takes examples from the 4-H evaluation to illustrate dilemmas that have emerged in current evaluation process and theory. (Author/GC)

Many problems are encountered when evaluating a complex, decentralized national program such as 4-H. Good effects of the federal evaluation mandate include local concern with program quality. Bad effects include that local agencies are forced to utilize noxious methodologies or to collect information they consider to be unimportant. (Author/GC)

Describes the analytical evaluation model used to determine outcomes of a Youth Career Development program. Reports that the program produced favorable changes in a number of areas. (Author/ST)

Describes the evaluation design employed by the 4-H program in response to the Congressional evaluation mandate of 1977. Discusses difficulties encountered in design integrity and practicality in choosing an appropriate format for the national-scale evaluation. (CS)

Presents an external review of the evaluation process involved in evaluating the national 4-H program. Focuses on issues and lessons relevant to evaluation and research in general. Discusses specific problems encountered in the 4-H national evaluation. (CS)

Collated and analyzed are part of the results of the evaluation of a Canadian government program for helping scientific research. The analysis deals with the relationship between public authorities and the university community in Quebec Province. (BT)

Compensatory programs are successful when they include respect for the child's strengths and for the culture that nourished him. (Author/IRT)

Suggests four criteria (efficiency, return on investment, incentives, and equity) for evaluating and comparing public programs for poor children, and provides an overview of information available on eight large federal programs using these criteria. Positive effects of some programs are noted, and policy recommendations the evidence supports are…