Program Evaluation and Assessment
Program Evaluation Measures Effectiveness
Program Evaluation Measures Effectiveness
"The teaching-learning process consists of producing desired changes in human behavior; it is a dynamic, action-oriented process ...with evaluation a key concept." -J. N. Raudabaugh
Evaluation is a difficult yet necessary part of Extension educational programming. It is a way to examine or judge a program in order to determine its value. Evaluation involves decision-making based upon information that has been gathered, examined and applied to some standards or criteria. The goal of evaluation is to provide information for enlightened decision-making to help establish or improve programs or to measure whether a program is having the intended results. Each Extension program should have specified educational objectives. Generally, the aim of Extension education is to bring about educational change in the learners, and through them, to favorably affect other individuals and groups-the secondary consumers of Extension educational programs. By discovering and measuring the effectiveness of programs, and projects, methods and materials used in educational programs, we are able to provide the best programs to local communities.
Evaluation is part of the program planning process. Evaluation should begin before an educational program is planned. Once the program need or educational opportunity has been decided upon, a series of judgments based on knowledge and experience contribute to decisions about what educational objectives, materials and methods should be used. Information collected formally--or sometimes informally--before and during a program provides the input for periodic evaluations of the program's progress. Data gathered and analyzed when the program ends, along with that gathered and analyzed during the program, serves as the basis for decisions about continuing or changing the educational program. In this manner, evaluation becomes a continuous, active, circular process in which the results are put into practical use as soon as they are determined.
Decisions and judgments need to be made in all stages of program planning--program determination (situation), program strategy (plan of work), program action (implementation), and program evaluation (accomplishments). There is a logical process to follow in planning evaluations. When you prepare your four-year or annual plan of work you usually:
- identify the program to be conducted;
- develop objectives you want to accomplish through your program;
- decide on teaching activities to meet the objectives;
- plan an evaluation of the program to see if the objectives were accomplished.
Evaluation efforts can be long-range or immediate. In the broadest sense, a program can be judged on its contribution to solve identified problems of people, families, and communities. In a narrower sense, a program may be evaluated in terms of its effect upon the participants. How did the educational program influence them to change, and how has, or will, this in turn affect their families and communities?
An educational program may also be evaluated as a process. How effectively and efficiently did it function while seeking to accomplish its results? At completion of all or part of a program, it may be evaluated against one or more of its specific objectives. For example, if the program was designed to impart a given body of knowledge to a given number of participants in a specified amount of time, this can be measured. With a little planning, several types of data useful in process evaluation can be gathered in advance of, during and following the program.
Long-range outcome evaluation is more difficult. Community studies or broad attitude studies are often hard to do and can be expensive. However, when expert resources are available, some of the most tangible and useful evaluations will measure outcomes in terms of improved levels of change. The objective of "impact evaluation or assessment" is to establish--with as much certainty as possible--whether or not an intervention is producing the intended results. Is your program hitting the mark; is it doing what you intended it to do; is it helping to solve the problem you are addressing?
Evaluation of educational programs to determine their effectiveness so that future programs can be improved is called formative evaluation. The assessment of the value of the program to participants--often including cost assessments and financial benefits, is called summative evaluation.
The Reasons for Evaluation
Evaluation may have different meanings. For the purpose of this information, evaluation includes the process of specifying, obtaining, and interpreting data to make meaningful judgments and decisions about Extension programs and their results.
Evaluation is an important dimension of the program development process. Evaluation should not be thought of as a separate concept, but as a phase of program development--the phase that involves the making of decisions and judgments. It is a process in which evidence and criteria are provided to serve as a rational basis for decisions.
Evaluation efforts can help:
- Determine if program objectives were accomplished.
- Discover what impact the program had on the audience. What did they learn? What practices did they adopt or change? What effect did the program have on the person or family or community?
- Provide information for decisions concerning future programming. Should a program be continued, expanded or terminated? What are the implications for future programs? Should program objectives, delivery methods, or audiences be changed?
- Obtain information about programs to present to key individuals or groups who are concerned about the effectiveness of Extension programs--funders, legislators, administrators, advisory councils, boards of commissioners, program supporters, subject-matter specialists, other decision makers.
- Provide information for formal reports, including localized monthly or quarterly "accountability reports," county annual reports, and state annual accomplishment results.
Evaluation is part of the program planning process. Evaluation strategies need to be planned before the program is implemented. Decisions and judgments need to be made in all stages of program planning--program determination (situation), program strategy (plan of work), program action (implementation), and program evaluation (accomplishments). There is a logical process to follow in planning evaluations. When you prepare your four-year or annual plan of work you usually:
- identify the program to be conducted;
- develop objectives you want to accomplish through your program;
- decide on teaching activities to meet the objectives;
- plan an evaluation of the program to see if the objectives were accomplished.
