Students study the tools used to evaluate the effectiveness of public policies. All evaluations have weaknesses, and some have more weaknesses than others. You will learn how to distinguish high from low quality evaluations. We will discuss the basic economics and econometrics of program evaluation, focusing on the application of methods used for causal inference and cost-benefit analyses in public policy contexts. We will examine published evaluation research with the intent of showing how the research does or does not lead to clear conclusions regarding program performance.