Course evaluation data can be a meaningful resource to improve the human resource development (HRD) practitioner's decision making. Recommended properties of an effective evaluation form are separation of the overall evaluation from the evaluation of specific aspects; a one-to-nine rating scale; strong, explicit verbal anchors on the rating scale; sufficient items to reflect all aspects; and a printed form. Several case studies have been conducted to compare courses and highlight the kinds of analysis that can be made once a good form and an adequate database have been established. A factor analysis of data from over 600 respondents across 24 courses reveals four dimensions being measured by the course evaluation questionnaire. As a result of the factor analysis, the number of specific items has been shortened from 18 to 10: presentation, relevance to job, coverage of subject, quality of materials, value for meeting objectives, instructor's expertise/enthusiasm, level of difficulty, classroom facilities, participant quality, and implementability of ideas. Recommendations to HRD professionals to change their approach to course evaluation data are (1) evaluation form redesign, (2) database development, and (3) use of a computer program to do the number crunching, calculate the average and median, sort data, and convert numbers to graphics. (YLB)