Program Evaluation in Practice: Core Concepts and Examples for Discussion and Analysis (Research Methods for the Social Sciences) - Softcover

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The Author Dean T. Spaulding is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the College of Saint Rose. He is the former chair for Teaching Program Evaluation for the American Evaluation Association. He is also a coauthor of Methods in Educational Research: From Theory to Practice from Jossey-Bass.

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Program Evaluation in Practice

In the field of program evaluation, there is a decided lack of teaching cases. Program Evaluation in Practice, fills this gap and covers the essentials of program evaluation as it is used in education. The book provides a wide variety of evaluation projects that can be used for discussion, for analysis, and for reflection. Program Evaluation in Practice addresses foundations and theories of evaluation, tools for collecting data, writing of reports, and sharing of findings. Individual cases focus on classroom instruction, a community-based program, teacher training, professional development, a secondary-school based program, an after-school program, reading achievement, a school-improvement grant, and confidentiality. Designed as a practical classroom text, each of the book's case studies uses the following framework:

• The Evaluator: Discusses the role of the evaluator in a particular project as well as the evaluator's background and education.

• The Evaluation Plan: Maps out the evaluator's detailed plan and explains the objectives, methods, and tools that are used.

• Summary of Evaluation Activities and Findings: Describes the evaluator's data collection process and offers an overview of the evaluation findings. At the end of each case, the evaluator is presented with a dilemma to resolve.

• Final Thoughts: Concludes the chapter with an explanation of what really happened at the end of the evaluation, shows how the evaluator handled the dilemma, and provides the results of the project.

As useful for students as it is for evaluators in training, Program Evaluation in Practice is a must-have for those aspiring to become effective evaluators.