A survey of students, parents, and teachers showed positive response to a new computerized grade reporting system in Madison, Wisconsin. (LS)

Federal intervention programs are affected by pressures that inhibit honest evaluations. (MM)

An alternative program, the authors believe, can be successful only with the full support of the principal. Charts the attitudes of 63 Philadelphia principals toward their city's alternative schools. (Editor/RK)

Describes the procedure followed in evaluating extension at the University of Missouri, reporting on the usefulness of the steps followed, and presenting some of the outcomes from this Extension evaluation at the institutional level. (WL)

Surveys and critiques the mass production and education of journalists. Available from: The Atlantic Monthly, The Atlantic Monthly Company, 8 Arlington St., Boston, Massachusetts 02116; Subscriptions: $13.00 a year; $1.00 plus postage single issues. (KS)

Strategy straddling reflects planners' and organizers' ideological ambivalence regarding consensus and conflict models of community organization. (Author)

The closing of the Program Evaluation and Methodology Division of the U.S. General Accounting Office marks the end of an era of innovative and important evaluation work. The loss of leadership with the retirement of E. Chelimsky contributed to the decline in the division's fortunes which was brought about by budget constraints. (SLD)

Describes the creation of a five-year strategic plan for the Rochester branch of the Society for Technical Communication. Finds that the creation of such a plan can help the members of a nonprofit organization gain a sense of direction for their volunteer efforts. Suggests that a structured process, communication with members, training, and annual…

Crude mental models should take priority over designs in guiding evaluative inquiry. Three illustrative mental models are shown to have implications for how method mixing is carried out in practice. One of the models, a complex and contextually contingent model, is applied to the Arizona Student Assessment Program. (SLD)

This objection to M. Scriven's claim that the basic logic of evaluation is criterial and standards-based notes that valuing is an integral part of perception. Disciplining the synthesis process through critiques of interpretations and values and by using competing conceptual organizers is discussed. (SLD)

Describes the development of a program portfolio to document and evaluate the accomplishments of an adult literacy program as a whole--program staff as well as students. Offers suggestions for those who want to use portfolios in program evaluations. (JOW)

Addresses the problems associated with deliberation: (1) hyperindividualism; (2) limited public dialog; and (3) increased hegemony of science and technology. Describes the naturalistic evaluation model used in rural Kentucky to critique the application of the National Issues Forum methodology. (JOW)

Describes the Youth Development Learning Network's extended evaluation, a collaboration of funders, program administrators, youth workers, and evaluators, that illustrates the process of building capacity for youth and youth workers. (SLD)

Describes the participatory evaluation methods developed so that children participating in children's clubs in Nepal could use them in periodic reviews of their own functioning as creators of democratic organizations. (SLD)