Based on an independent analysis of the data used to evaluate the Developmental Economic Education Program, questions are raised about the methodology and conclusions reached by Walstad and Soper in an article published in the Winter 1982 issue of the Journal. The original study is also defended in two replies. (Author/RM)

Stakeholder-based studies modify the relationship between evaluator and user, producing conflict that can cause evaluators to regress to familiar, traditional patterns that leave interactive evaluation strategies only partially implemented. (Author/PN)

Discusses problems encountered in evaluating a mass drug education program including instrument selection, logistical constraints, and data analysis. Offers suggestions as to program evaluation improvement. (Author/RC)

The design and conduct of a national evaluation study is discussed, demonstrating that a control group may not provide the no-cause baseline information expected. Resolution of this problem requires reexamination of paradigms, research practices, and policies, as well as the underlying real world constraints and views that generate them. (PN)

Shows how evaluation design and federal involvement in Youth Employment Demonstration Projects unintentionally cause a negative appraisal. Indicates the problem stems from interaction of the contract research corporation, the educational research establishment, and the federal bureaucracy, rather than a specific methodology or bureaucratic…

The use of evaluations for policy and program development and change is critically reviewed. Existing conceptions of utilization are discussed and improvements in the methods of detecting use are suggested. Five clusters of variables affecting utilization are described and hypotheses about the reasons for their effects are outlined. (Author/AL)

In this overview, the author discusses the need for art therapy research, problems it entails, and types of research approaches which may be used. Appended is a commentary by Janie Rhyne outlining the design of her own research. This article is part of a theme issue on art therapy. (SJL)

Criteria for usefulness of evaluative information have changed and this means the model of evaluation used by extension must meet the new criteria. Evaluation research is now considered the legitimate model for evaluation; it can aid decision makers by providing data for making unpopular decisions. (LRA)

Is it ethical to select clients at random for a beneficial social service, then deny the benefits to a control group for the sake of science? Participation of control groups in planning, implementation and evaluation of social programs may resolve ethical issues. (Author/CP)

Recognition of radio and television antismoking messages was measured in 6 treatment and 4 control cities. A survey of 574 adolescents found high recognition of messages even in areas where they were not broadcast, reinforcing the need for true control groups and distinctive messages to ensure validity in mass media evaluation. (SK)

"How New York City's Charter Schools Affect Achievement" estimates the effects on student achievement of attending a New York City charter school rather than a traditional public school and investigates the characteristics of charter schools associated with the most positive effects on achievement. Because the report relies on an…

This paper details the pathway of development of early intervention program evaluation research along with the often-enumerated problems with research results. Early intervention evaluation, which was initiated in 1969, involves those organized efforts designed to remediate and/or reconcile developmental disabilities in young children up to the…

Two questions are addressed in this document: What is worth knowing about Project Follow Through? and, How should the National Institute of Education (NIE) evaluate the Follow Through program? Discussion of the first question focuses on findings of past Follow Through evaluations, problems associated with the use of experimental design and…