Academia and the training of human service delivery program evaluators.

Many think the demand for high-quality evaluation personnel has reached the point where universities should consider the development of program evaluation curricula. Although much of this article focuses on the training of evaluators for the mental health service delivery system, the suggestions made are applicable to the training of evaluation specialists who will function in a variety of public and private human service settings. Among the several issues considered are the body of knowledge to be taught in program evaluation curricula, the specific concepts and skills needed by the evaluator to function effectively, and whether training should be structured as an interdepartmental or intradepartmental specialty. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)