Program Evaluation.

The article highlights a symposium on program evaluation. For a number of reasons program evaluation has become an important subject for public administration. In the first place people have become more concerned with keeping government accountable. In varying degrees existing means for providing accountability have been found wanting. Techniques of program evaluation have been used increasingly in this area. Despite the wide interest in program evaluation there are not a great many sources one can turn to for information on the subject. Program evaluation is of concern to both executive and legislative branches, to auditing agencies and management. Both auditing agencies and managers need program evaluation, although not necessarily of the same kind or for the same purposes. The symposium has attempted to draw on practitioners rather than academicians so that the papers will largely indicate what is happening in the field. The symposium has included papers from both the U.S. Office of Management and the U.S. General accounting Office.