Designing and Implementing Effective Evaluations provides extensive real-life examples of program evaluations that illustrate the various elements and steps in conducting a successful evaluation. The detailed and diverse range of case studies show the common elements, methods, approaches, and processes of program evaluations, while also demonstrating the way that good evaluators adapt and tailor those methods to the specific characteristics and needs of a given program. The chapters explore the process of problem solving while navigating multiple stakeholders, competing agendas, and varying environments. The book introduces conversations concerning how to adapt evaluation processes and concepts with culturally different individuals and communities. It discusses the role of culture in navigating a meaningful evaluation process when significant cultural differences exist between the evaluator and individuals that make up the organization. The text is a vital resource for postgraduate students in program evaluation courses in Psychology, Education, Public Health, Social Work and related fields.

Fifteen years ago Trudy Banta and her colleagues surveyed the national landscape for the campus examples that were published in the classic work Assessment in Practice. Since then, significant advances have occurred, including the use of technology to organize and manage the assessment process and increased reliance on assessment findings to make key decisions aimed at enhancing student learning. Trudy Banta, Elizabeth Jones, and Karen Black offer 49 detailed current examples of good practice in planning, implementing, and sustaining assessment that are practical and ready to apply in new settings. This important resource can help educators put in place an effective process for determining what works and which improvements will have the most impact in improving curriculum, methods of instruction, and student services on college and university campuses.

Drawing upon experiences at state and local level project evaluation, and based on current research in the professional literature, Payne presents a practical, systematic, and flexible approach to educational evaluations. Evaluators at all levels -- state, local and classroom -- will find ideas useful in conducting, managing, and using evaluations. Special user targets identified are state department of education personnel and local school system administrative personnel. The volume can be used by those doing evaluation projects `in the field', or as a text for graduate courses at an introductory level. The book begins with an overview of the generic evaluation process. Chapter Two is devoted to the criteria for judging the effectiveness of evaluation practice. Chapter Three addresses the all important topic of evaluation goals and objectives. Chapters Four, Five and Six basically are concerned with the approach, framework, or design of an evaluation study. Chapter Four contains a discussion of four major philosophical frameworks or metaphors and the implications of these frameworks for conducting an evaluation. Chapters Five and Six describe predominantly quantitative and qualitative designs, respectively. Design, implementation and operational issues related to instrumentation (Chapter Seven), management and decision making (Chapter Eight), and reporting and utilization of results (Chapter Nine) are next addressed. The final chapter of the book (Chapter Ten) considers the evaluation of educational products and materials.

'The Road to Results: Designing and Conducting Effective Development Evaluations' presents concepts and procedures for evaluation in a development context. It provides procedures and examples on how to set up a monitoring and evaluation system, how to conduct participatory evaluations and do social mapping, and how to construct a "rigorous" quasi-experimental design to answer an impact question. The text begins with the context of development evaluation and how it arrived where it is today. It then discusses current issues driving development evaluation, such as the Millennium Development Goals and the move from simple project evaluations to the broader understandings of complex evaluations. The topics of implementing 'Results-based Measurement and Evaluation' and constructing a 'Theory of Change' are emphasized throughout the text. Next, the authors take the reader down 'the road to results, ' presenting procedures for evaluating projects, programs, and policies by using a 'Design Matrix' to help map the process. This road includes: determining the overall approach, formulating questions, selecting designs, developing data collection instruments, choosing a sampling strategy, and planning data analysis for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method evaluations. The book also includes discussions on conducting complex evaluations, how to manage evaluations, how to present results, and ethical behavior--including principles, standards, and guidelines. The final chapter discusses the future of development evaluation. This comprehensive text is an essential tool for those involved in development evaluation.

"This handbook brings together evaluation approaches relevant across the program life cycle, starting from program design, to implementation, and ultimately to the scaling up of successful interventions. It fills a gap in available publications, which are predominantly focused on impact evaluations and inadequately grounded in methods that can address why programs succeed or fail as well as their potential to contribute to broader and more systemic change. This chapter starts by setting the context and describes key questions relevant to each stage of the program lifecycle. The second section highlights four cross-cutting consideration that social programs today must confront including: (1) ensuring culturally responsive and equitable evaluations, (2) the decolonization of evaluation practices, (3) adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises, and (4) understanding the impact of climate change on social programs. The last section describes how this handbook can be used and highlights relevant evaluation topics and case studies covered in each section of the handbook"--

With insightful discussion of program evaluation and the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control, this book presents a set of clear-cut recommendations to help ensure that the substantial resources devoted to the fight against AIDS will be used most effectively. This expanded edition of Evaluating AIDS Prevention Programs covers evaluation strategies and outcome measurements, including a realistic review of the factors that make evaluation of AIDS programs particularly difficult. Randomized field experiments are examined, focusing on the use of alternative treatments rather than placebo controls. The book also reviews nonexperimental techniques, including a critical examination of evaluation methods that are observational rather than experimentalâ€"a necessity when randomized experiments are infeasible.

Social problems in many domains, including health, education, social relationships, and the workplace, have their origins in human behavior. The documented links between behavior and social problems have compelled governments and organizations to prioritize and mobilize efforts to develop effective, evidence-based means to promote adaptive behavior change. In recognition of this impetus, The Handbook of Behavior Change provides comprehensive coverage of contemporary theory, research, and practice on behavior change. It summarizes current evidence-based approaches to behavior change in chapters authored by leading theorists, researchers, and practitioners from multiple disciplines, including psychology, sociology, behavioral science, economics, philosophy, and implementation science. It is the go-to resource for researchers, students, practitioners, and policy makers looking for current knowledge on behavior change and guidance on how to develop effective interventions to change behavior.