December 1, 2007

Early Childhood Program Evaluations: A Decision-Maker's Guide

This report was released in December 2007 by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Increasing demands for evidence-based early childhood services and the need by policymakers to know whether a program is effective or whether it warrants a significant investment of public and/or private funds -- coupled with the often-politicized debate around these topics -- make it imperative for policymakers and civic leaders to have the independent knowledge needed to be able to evaluate the quality and relevance of the evidence provided in reports. This clear, concise guide from the National Forum on Early Childhood Program Evaluation helps prepare decision-makers to be better consumers of evaluation information by posing five key questions that address both the substance and the practical utility of rigorous evaluation research.