Outcome Measurement Resource Network

Outcome Measurement Resource Network
Selected Resources for Comprehensive Program Evaluation

Academy for Educational Development: The Academy for Educational Development (AED), founded in 1961, is an independent, nonprofit service organization committed to addressing human development needs in the United States andthroughout the world. Under contracts and grants, AED operates programs in collaboration with policy leaders; nongovernmental and community-based organizations; businesses; governmental agencies; international multilateral and bilateral funders; and schools, colleges, and universities. SEE: U.S. Projects - for evaluation related information.
American Evaluation Association: An international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms ofevaluation. Site includes information on AEA electronic lists, AEA publications, AEA annual meetings, and links to other sites of interest to evaluators.
DHHS - Assistant Secretary for Planning & Evaluation: The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation is responsible to the Secretary for policy analysis and advice, policy development, strategic and implementation planning, and for the coordination and conduct of evaluation and policy research. Site includes general information and a sampling of work in selected policy areas.
ERIC - Educational Resources Information Center: The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is anational information system designed to provide users with ready access to an extensive body of education-related literature. ERIC, established in 1966, is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, and the National Library of Education.
Grantmakers Evaluation Network: The Grantmakers Evaluation Network (GEN) is an affinity group of the Council on Foundations. The purpose of GEN is to promote the development and growth of evaluation in philanthropy. GEN will seek to leverage, expand, and diversify the sources of philanthropic dollars for evaluation and to build the capacity of members and others in its pursuit.
Harvard Family Research Project: Since its founding in 1983 by Director Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D., HFRP's mission has been to examine and encourage policies and programs that empower families and communities to help children reach their potential. HFRP conducts research on familysupport programs and policies, and shapes their development. It publishes and widely disseminates its research findings, and its staff advises and provides technical assistance to a nation wide network of practitioners, policy makers, and educators. Project members contribute to national working groups, serve as sources to the media, and help public and private entities shape their strategies for supporting families. HFRP's diverse agenda--supported largely by foundations-- encourages progressive program development and builds the capacity of practitioners to implement and evaluate family support programs, systems, and policies.
Site includes issues of the quarterly newsletter The Evaluation Exchange and a list of outside links to Child and Family Research Resources, Child and Family Organizations, Evaluation Resources, Government Agencies and Information, Results-Based Accountability, Foundations, and Think Tanks/Research Organizations.
InnoNet: Innovation Network, Inc. (InnoNet) is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to helping small to medium-sized nonprofit organizations successfully meet their missions. InnoNet has two services to meet this end: a search service to find model programs and an evaluation service that guides agencies through a planning and evaluation process. Report: Program Evaluation Practice in the Nonprofit Sector
JAI Press Inc.: Publishes journals, serial publications, monographs, and cumulative indexes. JAI Press is a leading international publisher of high-quality postgraduate/research level, scholarly and professional book and journal publications in integrated publishing programs in Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting, Management Science, Sociology, Political Science,Education, Library and Information Sciences, AI/CognitiveSciences, Computer Science, Chemistry, Life and Biomedical Sciences.
Jossey-Bass Publishers: Provides professionals, executives, and scholars with useful, leading-edge books and journals that are based on research and proven in practice. Jossey-Bass books and journals cover topics of interest to a wide range of practitioners in Business & Management; Conflict Resolution, Mediation, & Negotiation; Education; Health; Higher & Adult Education; the Nonprofit Sector; Psychology; and Public Administration. Site includes a useful search feature.
Policy Information Center - Dept. HHS: HHS Program Evaluation. The HHS Program Evaluation Abstracts were developed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (OASPE), which oversees program evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Over 7000 studies are described here, the oldest dating back to the early 1960's. However, the collection is most complete for studies conducted in the 1980's and 1990's. It contains abstracts on in-process, completed, and on-going health and human services evaluations; short-term evaluative research; and policy-oriented projects conducted by HHS as well as by other federal departments and agencies, and the private sector. The HHS Program Evaluation Abstracts Collection is maintained by the Policy Information Center (PIC) within OASPE.
Project STAR: Project STAR (Support and Training for Assessing Results) received a contract from CNS to provide free evaluation assistance to all interested AmeriCorps National/State programs and Learn and Serve America: Higher Education programs. STAR consists of a group of evaluation professionals who are available to provide a wide variety of evaluation assistance.
Sage Publications, Inc.: An international educational and professional publisher. Sage publishes many works produced by evaluation experts. Check out their searchable database of available publications.

General Evaluation Resources

A Review of Evaluation Resources for Nonprofit Organizations: Canadian Center for Philanthropy. Includes reviews of fourteen evaluation manuals for nonprofits. General reviews of these resources are provided as well as a summary of their strengths and weaknesses. Organized according to the particular evaluation method that they employ. Appendix attached to view a more detailed review.
CDC Evaluation Working Group: A collection of several evaluation resources including logic models, organizations, societies, foundations and associations involved in program evaluation activities, journals and on-line publications, step-by-step manuals, planning and performance improvement tools, general reports and publications, and GPRA reports and publications.
Center for the Study of Social Policy: A list of several different publications divided into the following categories: children & families, family preservation, financing children & family service reports and economic status of minorities. Publication topics range from building partnerships to defining indicators. Full text not available; order forms online.
Child Trends Publications: Lists Child Trend publications about research and indicators. You can search publications by topic such as youth development, family strengths, children's health, etc. Each publication can be viewed in full text as a PDF file.
Children, Youth, and Families Education and Research Network (CYFERNET): An impressive collection of children, youth and family resources of all the public land-grant universities in the country. Has an evaluation section that includes practical tools that you can use to evaluate community-based programs; information on how community programs can be sustained and assessments of organizational support for work in the areas of children, youth and families. Check particularly "Applying Evaluation Tools to Your Programs," and "Papers, Articles, and Courses."
Comparative Performance Measurement. 124 pp., 2001. Elaine Morley, Scott P. Bryant, Harry P. Hatry. The Urban Institute, Washington, DC.: A step-by-step guide to using comparative performance measurement (CPM). Teaches readers how to determine the scope of a CPM effort, how to select data that is measurable, meaningful, and comparable and how to develop data instruments and procedures to maximize the useful data collected. Also teaches readers to report results effectively and to translate CPM information into better organizations and programs.
Evaluation Activities in Organizations. Carter McNamara. Links to several evaluation resources.: A collection of evaluation activities and resources for nonprofits and for-profits. Provides overviews of major types of evaluations, online guides, general resources, hard copy of resources, related library links and online discussion groups.
Evaluation Exchange Newsletter. Vol. VII, No. 2, 16 pp., 2001.: Harvard Family Resource Project. A newsletter about the importance of evaluation. Includes information such as the theory and practice of developmental research and the basics of designing logic models. There are also examples of effective evaluations, feature stories, and a question and answer section. In order to view and download the newsletter, you must have Adobe Acrobat.
GAO Report on Government Agencies that have Incorporated Program Evaluations in their Operations. 36 pp., 2000.: Report of results from agencies that used program evaluations. Indicates that evaluations helped agencies improve their measurement of program performance or understanding of performance as well as actually improving the program. Includes descriptions of the programs analyzed in the study.
Indicators for Tracking Welfare Reform. 17 pp., Diane Benjamin et al.: Essay outlining the evaluation of welfare reform. Describes specific indicators that can be used to measure the results and to evaluate the impact of the policy. Offers advice and cautionary notes. Also includes instructions for conducting surveys and interviews.
Internet Resources for NonProfits: Outcome Measurement and Program Evaluation: Lists a variety of links relating to outcome measurement and program evaluation. A lot of the links are for evaluation associations or societies. Others are guides for methods in evaluation. Each link is briefly described.
Measurement Resources: Assists human service organizations evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and helps them identify resources that will enable them to deliver services in a more effective manner. Contains various resources including: workshop materials, measurement resources, and useful web links to sites of interest to human service agencies.
Resources for Methods in Evaluation and Social Science Research: This page lits free downloadable resources for methods in evaluation and social research. The focus is on "how-to" do evaluation research and the methods used: surveys, focus groups, sampling, interviews, and other methods.
Taking Stock: A Practical Guide to EvaluatingYour Own Programs. 97 pp., 1997. Sally E. Bond, Sally L. Bond and Kathleen Rapp. Horizon Research Inc., Chapel Hill, NC.: A thorough manual on program evaluation. Provides program evaluation basics (concepts and techniques), examples, sample reports using evaluation data, a glossary of terms and an index.
The Child Indicator. The Child, Youth and Family Indicators Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 2, 8 pp., 2002. Child Trends, Washington, DC.: Includes a number of articles on child indicators such as Advice on Using Child Indicator Data, a Summary of the Index of Social Health and New Social Survey, and the International Child Well-Being Project List of Indicators.
The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation. 1995. US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families.: A guide to explain program evaluation, what it is, how to understand it, and how to do it. Answers your questions about evaluation and explains how to use evaluation to improve programs and benefit staff and program participants.
User-Friendly Handbook for Mixed Method Evaluations. 131 pp., 1997. National Science Foundation. Directorate for Education and Human Resouces.: Includes three main sections: an introduction to mixed method evaluations, an overview of qualitative methods and analytic techniques, and a section on designing and reporting mixed method evaluations. An annotated bibliography and glossary is also attached for further reference.
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