Increasing demands for evidence-based early childhood services and the need by policymakers to know whether a program is effective or whether it warrants a significant investment of public and/or private funds--coupled with the often-politicized debate around these topics--make it imperative for policymakers and civic leaders to have independent knowledge to evaluate the quality and relevance of the evidence provided in reports. This guide helps prepare decision-makers to be better consumers of evaluation information by posing five key questions that address both the substance and the utility of rigorous evaluation research: (1) Is the evaluation design strong enough to produce trustworthy evidence? (2) What program services were actually received by participating children and families and comparison groups? (3) How much impact did the program have? (4) Do program benefits exceed costs? and (5) How similar are the programs, children, and families in the study to those in your constituency or community? [Partners involved in the development of this guide include: The FrameWorks Institute; National Conference of State Legislatures; and National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. Additional funding for this publication was provided by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund.]