Evaluating State Advanced Technology Programs

In: Evaluation review: a journal of applied social research, Band 12, Heft 3, S. 232-252

Abstract

Although often viewed as a premature and difficult activity, evaluation of state advanced technology programs has commenced in response to annual state budget reviews. Three issues related to evaluation of state advanced technology programs are examined here: (1) the political and institutional context within which evaluation is being performed; (2) technical issues concerning the specification of outcomes, reliance on process indicators such as leveraging ratios, and dependence on self-reported assessments for outcome measures; and (3) the limits to program evaluation as a guide to policymaking. The diffusion of specific evaluation approaches may be exerting an independent influence on programmatic characteristics of other states, shaping both the relative emphasis accorded different objectives and the choice of evaluation techniques.