NCJ Number
76214
Date Published
Unknown
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This document is designed to assist the management and staff of juvenile justice projects with the use of evaluation research in monitoring and improving their projects.
Abstract
While the examples used in the document relate to specific activities involved in implementing restitution and community service, the essential principles and methods are generic to the evaluation of virtually all juvenile justice projects. The guide is structured according to the logical steps involved in planning and conducting a project evaluation. It begins with a discussion of the prerequisites for conducting evaluation research, including reexamination of the project's purpose, objectives and activities and determining both the intended use and the focus of the evaluation. The second step is performing an evaluability assessment in order to develop a conceptual model that specifies the intended project purpose, objectives, and activities. Then, the methods of formative research are to be utilized for refining the conceptual model into an operational model of how the project actually functions. The final step is employing the methods of summative research to determine the project's effects.