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Performance Measurement
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange, Harvard Family Research Project's quarterly evaluation periodical, investigates performance measurement. It presents articles on results-based accountability (RBA) that are both retrospective, looking at what we have learned about accountability over the years, as well as prospective, looking to the future of RBA.
National Learning Project Evaluation
Jay Bell of James Bell Associates describes the National Learning Project Evaluation of the United Way.
Ensuring Quality in Head Start: The FACES Study
Ruth Hubbell McKey of Ellswood Associates and Louisa Tarullo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services discuss the FACES study of Head Start.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Performance Measurement by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Aiming for Accountability: Lessons Learned From Eight States
Diane Schilder of Harvard Family Research Project draws on case studies of eight states to provide a frank assessment of the potential and limitations of RBA systems.
Building Support for Statewide Outcomes: Lessons From Florida
Karen Stanford of the Commission on Government Accountability to the People in Florida reveals techniques to engage important stakeholders in the discussion about public outcomes.
Aiming for Accountability: Oregon
Efforts include Oregon Benchmarks, the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, the Oregon Option, and the Community Partnership Team.
Aiming for Accountability: Lessons Learned From Eight States
This report highlights some of the important lessons in designing and developing results-based accountability (RBA) systems, based on the insights gained from studies of eight states: Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, and Vermont. The report includes information on how these states overcame challenges in developing effective RBA systems and what the characteristics of promising RBA efforts are.
Aiming for Accountability: Ohio
Efforts include Ohio Family and Children First, Early Start, the Wellness Block Grant, and the Family Stability Incentive Fund.
Aiming for Accountability: Lessons Learned From Eight States (digest)
This condensed report highlights some of the important lessons in designing and developing results-based accountability (RBA) systems, based on the insights gained from studies of eight states: Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, and Vermont. The report includes information on how these states overcame challenges in developing effective RBA systems and what the characteristics of promising RBA efforts are.
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Resource Guide of Results-Based Accountability Efforts: Profiles of Selected States
This guide includes profiles of different state models of results-based accountability systems, which were developed through document reviews and key informant interviews. Included in the guide is a list of key contacts and bibliographic information on publications each state has developed.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Community-Based Initiatives by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Comprehensive Community Development and Family Support: An HFRP Report Highlights Central Themes and Common Ground
Louisa Lund from Harvard Family Research Project summarizes the findings of her paper on common themes in community development.
New & Noteworthy
An annotated list of organizations and initiatives related to the issue's theme of Community-Based Initiatives.
Community-Based Initiatives
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange, Harvard Family Research Project's quarterly evaluation periodical, investigates community-based initiatives (CBIs). It offer a variety of viewpoints, perspectives, and practices on how to document and examine CBIs in a way that enables us to learn all we can about them.
Evaluating CBIs: Facing the Challenges and Improving Practice
Karen Horsch from Harvard Family Research Project reveals the practices that nine evaluators of community-based initiatives have used and lessons they have learned addressing challenges.
Interview With Mercer Sullivan
Mercer Sullivan, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University and Senior Research Fellow at the Vera Institute of Justice, talks about using ethnography to study community-based initiatives.
Implementing a Theories of Change Evaluation in the Cleveland Community-Building Initiative
Sharon Milligan, Claudia Coulton, and Peter York of the Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change and Ronald Register, Executive Director of the Cleveland Community-Building Initiative, explain how a theories of change approach can be used to address the constraints of traditional evaluation techniques.
Neighborhood Indicators and Community Initiatives
G. Thomas Kingsley, Director of the Center for Public Finance and Housing at the Urban Institute, discusses the use of neighborhood indicators and their relevance to community initiatives.
Learner-Centered Evaluation Practice: The Banana Kelly Experience
Joe Hall, President of Banana Kelly International, and Marianne Cocchini, Founder of AER/MAC Consulting, write about evaluation as a learning enterprise for a CBI.
Electronic Mailbox
A list of useful resources on the Internet.
The Guide to Results-Based Accountability: Annotated Bibliography of Publications, Websites, and Other Resources
In addition to summarizing noteworthy articles, research papers, unpublished reports, and books on results-based accountability (RBA), this guide includes a section on RBA sites on the Internet. It includes perspectives from both private and public sectors on how to develop and implement results-based accountability systems, academic literature on RBA theories, and information on how states and localities are developing and implementing RBA systems.
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on School-Linked Services by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Interview With Cheryl Mitchell
Cheryl Mitchell, Deputy Secretary for Vermont's Agency of Human Service, talks about efforts to integrate education and social services in Vermont at the state and local levels.
Using Evaluation Results: The Program Staff Perspective
Alfredo Tijerina of School of the Future explains the program staff perspective of using evaluation results.