YouthLearn
Web Roundup, Issue 42 - October 2, 2003

Welcome to our third special issue:

EVALUATION

In view of the ever-increasing attention given to evaluation--and the
associated challenges, pressures, and opportunities--we've assembled a
shortlist of resources in this special issue of the YouthLearn newsletter.
There are many other useful tools, guides, and sources of information out
there; this collection is just a sample for your convenience. We hope this
newsletter assists you in your work! Please feel free to share it around.

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Web Resources

Harvard Family Research Project
Dedicated to promoting the "educational and social success and well-being
of children, families, and their communities," the Harvard Family Research
Project (HFRP) has an extensive body of research on the effectiveness of
out-of-school time programming. HFRP makes its valuable resources and
publications freely available; these include a database of program
evaluations, a professional network of people supporting family involvement
in education, The Evaluation Exchange periodical (see especially the three
archived issues on out-of-school time program evaluation), and briefs on
current issues, such as "Why, When, and How to Use Evaluation"--expert
commentary on the first year findings of the 21st Century Community
Learning Centers program evaluation.

http://www.hfrp.org

The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University
The Evaluation Support Services Website at Western Michigan University's
Evaluation Center is a clearinghouse of evaluation resources "intended to
increase the use and improve the quality of evaluations." Supported by the
National Science Foundation, with contributions from evaluation specialists,
the Evaluation Center website offers a glossary of terms, refereed checklists
for managing evaluations and hiring evaluators, a directory of evaluators,
publications, and more.

http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/

ACC CTC Self-Evaluation and Benchmarking Toolkit
The America Connects Consortium (ACC) has developed a toolkit to assist
community technology centers in evaluating their programs, staff, and
clients. CTCs may register and use this web-based toolkit free of charge.
This field-tested resource offers separate staff and user logins and features
seven modules, including Equipment, Staff, Clients, Usage, and Course.

http://www.americaconnects.net/toolkit/

InnoNet Workstation
Innovation Network, Inc. (InnoNet) is a nonprofit organization that seeks "to
improve nonprofit results by building evaluation capacity." They offer a free
nonprofit workstation and an evaluation resource center, host online
communities, and provide other tools and services. The workstation walks
practitioners through the process of designing evaluation and assessment
plans and tools, organized as a series of interactive steps into program,
evaluation, and budget plans.

http://www.innonet.org

NWREL Out-of-School Time Evaluation Resources
The Northwest Regional Education Laboratory (NWREL) provides "research
and development assistance in delivering equitable, high-quality educational
programs." Their newly released resource manual, Out-of-School Time
Program Evaluation: Tools for Action
, explains how to use surveys and focus
groups with different stakeholders to evaluate programs. Sample tools,
such as participant, teacher, and parent surveys and focus group questions,
are included.

http://www.nwrel.org/ecc/21century
Another new set of resources from NWREL focuses on Performance
Measurement. You can find information and tools for assessing participants'
learning in tutoring, homework help, and other programs.

http://www.nwrel.org/learns/resources/measurement/

CYFERnet Evaluation Resources
Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network is a "national
network of Land Grant university faculty and county Extension educators
working to support community-based educational programs for children,
youth, parents and families." Within the Evaluation section of their website,
CYFERnet shares an annotated catalog of literature reviews, measurement
tools, and other evaluation resources related to a range of topics from
Designing a Program Evaluation to Evaluating School Age Outcomes to
Evaluating Organizational Support and Evaluating Technology Use.

http://twosocks.ces.ncsu.edu/cyfdb/browse_2.php?search=Evaluation

American Evaluation Association
"Devoted to the application and exploration of evaluation in all its forms,"
the American Evaluation Association is a professional association of
evaluators. In addition to publications and training opportunities, their
website shares an annotated resource list of links encompassing professional
groups, foundations funding applied research, online handbooks, survey
design products, and more. Further, their EVALTALK general discussion list
serves as a forum for information exchange and connects organizations with
evaluators.

http://www.eval.org

Evaluation Activities in Organizations
This comprehensive catalog of links, assembled by Carter McNamara and
hosted by The Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits, covers a vast
array of evaluation resources--including overviews of major types of
evaluations, online guides, library links, and relevant online discussion
groups. This collection of resources is very deep, leading to content by Carter
McNamara adapted for this site as well as to external sites and documents.

http://www.managementhelp.org/evaluatn/evaluatn.htm


We welcome your feedback!

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