ABSTRACT
Because program evaluation is rooted in the search for accountability, a central criterion for judging its success has been the degree to which the results have been used for instructional purposes by clients. Perhaps because this criterion has not often been shown to be met, and perhaps, more fundamentally, because of developments in program evaluation theory, new purposes for evaluation have been suggested. These include such goals as improving curricula and programs (Cronbach, 1963; Stufflebeam, 1983); engaging stakeholders in reflection and decision making (Guba and Lincoln, 1989; Patton, 1986; Stake, 1983; Stufflebeam, 1969); shaping the development of policy (Grob, 1992; Weiss, 1988); and, most recently, facilitating organizational learning through researcher-practitioner linkages (Cousins and Earl, 1992; House, in Alkin, 1990).
