Evaluating the effectiveness of adult education programs, which are delivered in widely different ways to learners of varying ability levels, goals and needs, is one of the field's major challenges. Most adult education programs are required to report some types of data to the government agencies or organizations that fund them, but they don't necessarily analyze these data internally to see how the information might be used to improve programs or instruction. Nor do they necessarily collect the kinds of data that could be most compelling. The time, effort and knowledge required for such internal evaluation usually are the stumbling blocks, yet it is critical for communities, providers, teachers, and learners to know how well adult education programs are improving adults’ academic and technical knowledge and skills. Partnerships should make program evaluation a key objective. The materials in this section can help partners understand how to collect and use the right data to improve programs and services and to gain support from funders and the general public.