A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Why Am I Evaluating?

Purposes for Evaluation

There are many different reasons to evaluate a program. Many people think of program evaluation as a nerve-wracking process meant to determine continued funding or recognition. Although making decisions on continued funding or recognition can be a purpose of program evaluation, there are many other, less worrisome reasons to evaluate a program. Some of these follow:

• To provide information to program personnel and others on aspects of the program that work well and potential problems.

• To catch potential problems early in the program so they can be corrected before more serious problems occur.

• To guide further evaluation efforts. For instance, an evaluation may bring to light issues that need to be examined in greater detail or an initial evaluation of program implementation may be used, in part, to guide a later evaluation of long-term impact.

• To provide information on what technical assistance may be needed.

• To determine what impact the program is having on participants.

In general, one important purpose of any evaluation should be continual program improvement. By using evaluation results, program administrators can better understand how their program is working and where it is headed. With this greater understanding, they are better able to make decisions that will improve the program in the long run.

The purpose of evaluation should influence the design of the evaluation. Evaluation can take many different forms. One factor influencing the form an evaluation could take is the purpose for which the evaluation was designed in the first place. As an example, look at the following scenarios:

• School A has recently offered a series of professional development activities for teachers on different computer applications. To plan for additional professional development, the school wants to evaluate the current abilities of teachers who participated as well as the needs of teachers who did not. Thus, data will need to be collected from a wide range of teachers.

• School B is planning a series of professional development activities for teachers on different computer applications. This school wants to use evaluation to decide if the professional development was a success and if it should be repeated. In this case, data will probably be collected only from teachers who participated in the program and will be collected both before and after participation.

One evaluation can also have multiple purposes. For instance, an evaluation of student computer use could be designed both to assess the types of programs students prefer and to inform those designing a new curriculum on the topics needing attention in computer literacy courses.

These are different examples of why others may be evaluating. Why are you evaluating?

Why Is Rivers Evaluating? One of the first things that Kathy Wilson, the technology coordinator at Rivers, asked herself when she was given the task of evaluating the technology initiative, was why the evaluation was necessary in the first place. Kathy realized that different stakeholders may have different reasons for wanting an evaluation, and that it would be a good idea to take others? needs and interests into account when planning the evaluation. So, to better understand the overall purpose for the district?s efforts to evaluate its technology plan, Kathy sat down and listed each of the major stakeholders and what they wanted to know about the effort. She came up with the following. Stakeholders What they want from an evaluation Mr. Jones, HS Principal To find out if the technology and training are helping to alleviate some of the problems at the school (e.g., low reading scores) Dr. Walker, Superintendent Same as Mr. Jones, but also wants to find out if it is more cost-effective than other options Ms. Phillips, Professional Development To get information that will help her plan and improve next year's professional development activities Teachers To determine if student reading skills are improving as a result of Internet-based lessons and availability of the media centers Parents To know if the technology is making their children more computer literate and if it will give their children greater opportunities in the future From this analysis, Kathy concluded that most people wanted an evaluation to provide information on how specific efforts to implement the technology plan are, at the present time, "working." Since she knows that she will probably be responsible for implementing further technology efforts in the future, Kathy also decided that, for her own use, she wants information on the implementation process. She feels that detailed information on what it took to get the program going will help her to better understand both the current state of the program and future program outcomes. So, Kathy's answer to the question of "Why am I doing this evaluation?" has two major parts: To find out if the program is beginning to produce desired results (e.g., reading test scores are improving, professional development is effective, the program is cost effective) To obtain information on implementing the program

To answer the larger question of "Why am I evaluating?" you will need to consider the different stakeholders in your program and what they want out of the evaluation.

Stakeholders		What they want from an evaluation
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What do you want from an evaluation?

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Looking at what both you and other stakeholders want from an evaluation, what are two or three major reasons or purposes for doing your evaluation?

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How might these reasons affect the design of your evaluation?

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[Overview of Handbook]

[What is an Evaluation Anyway?]