Within the past few decades, scholars, lawmakers, and educators have increased attention to a specific type of aggressive behavior known as bullying. While bullying is like peer aggression and harassment, in that they all pertain to negative aggressive actions, there are important distinctions among these three forms of behavior. The key features…

Discusses how a time-series approach was used in the evaluation of the impact of California Senate Bill 2669 on child maltreatment reports. Describes the factors that influenced decisions about evaluation methods and the selection of outcome and exogenous measures. Recommends actions that would facilitate the implementation of evaluations of this…

Should evaluators care about the impact of evaluation on the public policy process? If the larger purpose of evaluation is social betterment, the public policy arena affords tremendous opportunities for evaluators to have both short- and long-term impact by influencing policy formulation, implementation, and outcomes. Working in the public policy…

In 1999, the staff of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) of the Virginia General Assembly (the state legislature) completed a review of the Virginia Board of Medicine that found problems with the process used to regulate physicians and recommended major changes to a system that had remained relatively unchanged for almost…

Legislative evaluators can inform state policymakers who face policy and budget decisions related to large and complex federal programs such as Medicaid. Unlike lobbyists, advocates, and other stakeholders who support particular interests, legislative evaluators are uniquely positioned to provide independent and timely information to assist…

In times of budget shortfalls and ever increasing demand for transparency and accountability for use of tax dollars in the public sector, it is clear that the use and influence of performance measurement has increased. "Performance measurement" is a "fairly inclusive term that may refer to the routine measurement of program inputs,…

A study examined the various laws and practices in six states regarding nonmonetary eligibility for state unemployment insurance programs and assessed the effects of these laws and policies on the states' ability to identify and reject unemployment insurance claimants who fail to meet the requirements. Eligibility for unemployment insurance in all…

Effects of Ohio's mandatory seat belt law on seat belt use, number of car accidents, and number of fatal and severe injuries were evaluated for January 1982 through March 1988. The monthly average number of accident victims was 2,002. Implications for public policy formulation and implementation are discussed. (SLD)

The Wisconsin "Learnfare" policy requires that teenagers receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) attend school regularly until they have completed high school. The population of teen parents and dependent teens receiving AFDC from September 1988 through December 1989 included 22,241 males and 30,995 females. About half…

In response to legislative mandate, the California Postsecondary Education Commission developed options for improving students' learning and development in college, including funding approaches designed to support these options. The commission's report summarizes a previous, related report and traces the origins of the current report from it,…