Sections include: "A theory of change approach to evaluation", "Reflections from evaluation practitioners" and "Issues in measurement and analysis".

The Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives for Children and Families is a forum in which persons involved in the current generation of community-based cross-systems reform efforts can engage in open and detailed discussion about the challenges they face and the lessons they are learning. This collection of papers aims to introduce some of the challenges facing CCI designers, funders, managers, and evaluators. It is not intended to be an exhaustive review of all of the problems associated with the design, implementation, or evaluation of innovative anti-poverty programs, nor does it present definitive solutions to current problems.

This book offers a progress report on work accomplished over the last few years in comprehensive community initiatives (CCIs), a relatively new approach to community revitalization.

Our poorest urban neighbourhoods experience economic and social difficulties that uniquely affect the lives of those who live there. This volume examines the policies and initiatives now underway on both sides of the Atlantic to revitalize those areas. With contributors from the US, France and the UK the volume explains the nature of specific community building programmes and explores critical issues such as the role of partnerships and the importance of race and gender in urban regeneration.

Both practical and theoretical in approach, this book is the perfect companion for student researchers and policy makers alike. It provides actionable advice for planning and implementing evaluations, while also instilling an ability to assess the evaluations of others and consider the ways in which evaluation evidence could influence policy and practice. Drawing upon a wide range of examples from policy areas like education, criminal justice, and health and social care, this book showcases how evaluation is an interdisciplinary research practice with a spectrum of applications. Each chapter contains philosophical underpinnings and applied knowledge as well as examples from published evaluations. Specific topics include how to: Choose an approach to evaluation Plan, design, and conduct evaluations Approach evaluations using theories of change Differentiate between process, impact, and economic evaluations Understand the role of quantitative and qualitative methods in data collection Use systematic reviews and other tools to assess and disseminate evaluation findings From getting started in the field to turning evidence into policy, this book will guide you through every step of the evaluation process.

Urban renewal has been the dominant approach to revitalizing industrialized communities that fall into decline. A national, community-based organization, the Skillman Foundation sought to engage in a joint effort with the University of Michigan's School of Social Work to bring six neighborhoods in one such declining urban center, Detroit, back to positions of strength and national leadership. A Twenty-First Century Approach to Community Change introduces readers to the basis for the Foundation's solicitation of social work expertise and the social context within which the work of technical assistance began. Building on research, the authors introduce the theory and practice knowledge of earlier scholars, including the conduct of needs assessments at multiple levels, engagement of community members in identifying problem-solving strategies, assistance in developing community goals, and implementation of social work field instruction opportunities. Lessons learned and challenges are described as they played out in the process of creating partnerships for the Foundation with community leaders, engaging and maintaining youth involvement, managing roles and relationships with multiple partners recruited by the Foundation for their specialized expertise, and ultimately conducting the work of technical assistance within a context of increasing influence of the city's surrounding systems (political, economic, educational, and social). Readers will especially note the role of technical assistance in an evolving theory of change.

Fully revised and updated, the second edition of this widely adopted text and professional reference reflects significant recent changes in the landscape of family therapy research. Leading contributors provide the current knowledge needed to design strong qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies; analyze the resulting data; and translate findings into improved practices and programs. Following a consistent format, user-friendly chapters thoroughly describe the various methodologies and illustrate their applications with helpful concrete examples. Among the ten entirely new chapters in the second edition is an invaluable research primer for beginning graduate students. Other new chapters cover action and participatory research methods, computer-aided qualitative data analysis, feminist autoethnography, performance methodology, task analysis, cutting-edge statistical models, and more.