What Progress, Program Evaluation? Reflections on a Quarter-Century of Extension Evaluation Practice

The September 1983 issue of the Journal of Extension was devoted entirely to the topic of program evaluation, marking the beginning of a new emphasis in Extension programming. This "call to action" was based largely on the need for program accountability; Extension educators could no longer afford to assume their programs worked or that their worth was self-evident. In the years since, evaluation in Extension has developed considerably. This Commentary explores a new call to action for evaluation in Extension, with a focus on more "logical" logic models, organizational evaluation capacity and support, and a greater emphasis on evaluation use.