Provides a critical review of studies that evaluate support groups for informal caregivers. Describes types of support groups evaluated, types of evaluative research, principal results, and limitations of the evaluations. Proposes avenues for further research. (JOW)

Notes that, very early in program planning, budgets are estimated for major program components, including evaluation. Proposes heuristic for establishing reasonable evaluation estimates in initial planning. Describes logical sources of information from which to construct such a heuristic. Recommends that, for typical programs and projects, initial…

Reviews literature on processes in conference planning and evaluation and reflects on the roles and tasks of facilitators at the thirtieth conference of the Australian Association of Adult and Community Education. (SK)

Methods of preparing for and conducting an adult education program evaluation are discussed: using standards and quality indicators, involving stakeholders, collecting program information, conducting a self-evaluation, and participating in the exit interview. (SK)

Describes the Logic Model process, a tool used by program evaluators to tell the performance story of their program. The model describes the logical linkages among program resources, activities, outputs, customers reached, and short, intermediate, and longer-term outcomes. (SLD)

CACREP accredited mental health counselor programs are compared with those not accredited on admission requirements (two measures), average number of students enrolled, graduation requirements (credit hours and clinical experience measures), and placement the first year after graduation. Survey data are examined for the difference accreditation…

Presents a framework for judging evaluations on the basis of their potential for democratic deliberation that includes the interrelated requirements of inclusion, dialogue, and deliberation. Operationalizes these requirements in 10 questions to guide evaluation and meta-evaluation from a democratic viewpoint. (SLD)

Reflects on an evaluation that aspired to be inclusive but generally failed to provide a backdrop for a discussion of inclusive evaluation. Identifies issues of absence of significant stakeholders, making of values by method, and the limited authority of the evaluation. Shows how easily deliberative intentions are distorted. (SLD)

Analyzes the complexities surrounding the concept of dialogue in evaluation through a critical examination of current theory and practices. Uses a descriptive typology based on genre, process, goal, evaluator identity, orientation, and epistemology to analyze two vignettes of dialogue in evaluation. (Author/SLD)

Challenges the assumption that evaluation should aim for fostering deliberative democracy. A modest effort by an evaluator to contribute to deliberative democracy is defensible, but vigorous political advocacy violates social expectation. (Author/SLD)

Comparison of Britain's Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) in the 1980s and General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQ)in the 1990s shows that both were intended to remedy alleged defects in vocational education. GNVQs ignore teaching/learning theories other than competence. TVEI was not based on explicit theory, but was…

Presents a three-part evaluation schema that provides the framework for describing a methodology that facilitates the evaluation process. Provides details on how to develop and use trainee reaction forms and opinionnaires. Includes sample forms and questionnaires. (Author/JOW)

This monograph identifies, analyzes, and judges 22 evaluation approaches used in program evaluation. Two approaches, labeled psuedoevaluations, are politically oriented and often used to misrepresent a program's value. The remaining 20, judged legitimate, are categorized by their orientations, and rated for their value. (SLD)

Discusses the use of Planned Variation evaluations, evaluations that implement and compare two or more promising variations of an educational or social program. Suggests several advantages for the Planned Variation approach and describes the Planned Variation Cross Validation Model. (SLD)

Evaluations of the reengineering of business processes in three companies examined the relationship with organizational learning and innovation. Understanding and mapping existing processes helped identify weaknesses; skills required to make processes operational were clarified; implementation of the reengineering was facilitated by knowledge of…