Evaluating Effectiveness: A Comparison of Federal Expectations and Local Capabilities for Evaluation Among Federally Funded Model Demonstration Programs

Abstract

The scenario of a federal funding source mandating the conduct and reporting of program evaluation activities has become increasingly prevalent in education over the last two decades. Using the distinction between signaling (Zucker, 1981) and charged use (King & Pechman, 1984), this article examines the issues that arose when a particular set of federally funded model demonstration projects, secondary/transition projects funded by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, were obligated by federal initiative to improve the amount, quality, and use of evaluation. These issues are organized into two areas: (a) the nature of federal expectations and need for evaluation data and (b) the extent of local capabilities to meet those expectations and provide evaluative data. Regulatory and methodological implications of the discrepancy between federal expectations and local capabilities are discussed.