Provides a perspective of the literature reviewed by Calfee and Drum by discussing the reasons why and the conditions under which researchers and practitioners must better inform each other about their respective work. (Author)

A response to the review by Robert Calfee and Priscilla Drum, in issue three of the eighth volume of this journal, discusses the issue of incorporating research results into practice. (Author/MLF)

Addresses the current breach between qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluation. Develops an argument for the continuity of qualitative and quantitative methods. (Author/MLF)

The story of the national evaluation of the Follow Through program mirrors the difficulties in trying to evaluate a complex social program that changed its community service orientation to a strategy of planned variation of early childhood programs. (Author/MLF)

Abt Associates, the firm responsible for the primary analysis of the Follow Through experiment, summarize the findings. Their clearest finding indicates that local circumstances, attitudes, and activities unmeasured by evaluation have much more to do with the effectiveness of Follow Through models, without exception, than do their theoretical…

Interpretations point up the fact that research-oriented evaluation, aiming at estimation of program effects on specific test outcome measures, is capable of illuminating only part of the value of a complex social program like Follow Through. (Author/MLF)

This article focuses on the social formation of research by considering autobiography, biography, and institutions. The discussion covers the relation of U.S. corporate liberalism, Protestant theology, and Jewish identity, and the role of the university in the administration of the state. (TE)

Argues that politics of research must be considered in study design and interpretation of results. Efficacy studies leave larger ethical and philosophical questions unaddressed, such as who decides what constitutes appropriate objectives for whom, and why. Concerns are raised about social consequences of labeling. (TE)