The State of the Art and Science of Educational Program Evaluation Services (K-14) in Los Angeles County as Experienced by One Los Angeles County Consultant.

The Division of Program Evaluation and Research of the Los Angeles County Superintendent's Office provides program evaluation consultation services to all local educational agencies (grades K-14) in Los Angeles County. The three program evaluation services that are described are: (1) Educational Program Evaluation Planning Assistance, (2) Educational Program Audit Assistance, and (3) Direct Evaluator Assistance. (One section of the paper presents an introduction to the audit process through the use of a question-and-answer format). The program evaluation services have recently been provided to more than 40 elementary, secondary, and community college agencies. In addition, the progress or results of evaluations of: Early Childhood, Compensatory Education, Mentally Gifted Minors, Educationally Handicapped, Ransom Reading, Career Awareness, Community College Veterans' Recruitment, and Community College Children's Centers will be described. The assertion will be made that behavioral objectives as used in program evaluations are essentially research hypotheses and that data analysis and interpretations should recognize this through the employment of statistically derived confidence intervals. Another assertion that will be made is that three criteria should be used in judging program evaluation: (1) standards of behavioral science research; (2) utility; and (3) cost-benefit considerations. Finally, two program evaluation models will be compared to the one that has evolved in the County Office. (Author)