Program Evaluation Toolkit, developed under funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, includes a series of eight learning modules that begin at the planning stages of an evaluation and progress to sharing your findings with stakeholders. Learn more about the resources in the toolkit and how you can use them to understand your program’s effectiveness.
Authors: Joshua Stewart, Jeanette Joyce, Mckenzie Haines, David Yanoski, Douglas Gagnon, Christopher Rhoads and Carrie Germeroth
In chapter 1, you will explore the basic components of a logic model and learn how it can be leveraged to plan and implement your evaluation.
In chapter 2, you will develop a problem statement that you would like to address. This chapter will guide you through the process of articulating the problem and why the problem exists.
In chapter 3, you will explore the resources, activities, and outputs that make up the essence of the program you intend to implement. These logic model components help to describe a program that will address the problem defined in the problem statement, discussed in chapter 2.
In chapter 4, you will explore the short-term, mid-term, and long-term outcomes that you expect your program will achieve to address the problem identified in chapter 2.
In chapter 1, you will learn about the different types of evaluation questions and how each type can be used to inform the implementation and outcomes of your program.
In chapter 2, you will learn how to write evaluation questions using a framework called PARSEC, which stands for pertinent, answerable, reasonable, specific, evaluative, and complete. You will then apply the framework to sample evaluation questions.
In chapter 3, you will learn about a process for prioritizing your evaluation questions. This process will help ensure your evaluation questions provide the information you need to assess whether your program is meeting intended outcomes.
In chapter 1, you will learn about different evaluation design categories that can be adapted to meet your evaluation needs. You will learn about how each category relates to the claims you can make about your program.
In chapter 2, you will learn about threats to validity in evaluation design. You should examine threats to validity regardless of what your evaluation design is or whether you ask process or outcome evaluation questions. Minimizing threats to validity is an essential part of any evaluation.
In chapter 3, you will learn about levels of evidence and design standards. The level of evidence you require may influence your selection of an appropriate evaluation design. If you want to provide higher levels of evidence to support a program, you must adhere to more rigorous standards of evaluation design.
In chapter 1, you will be introduced to the concept of sampling and learn how it can be leveraged to meet the needs of your evaluation efforts.
In chapter 2, you will learn about different sampling techniques. It is often not feasible to collect data from an entire population, so a smaller sample must be selected. Important considerations in sampling include identifying whom to include in the sample, deciding whether a random or nonrandom sampling technique is appropriate, and determining an appropriate sample size.
In chapter 3, you will explore methods for determining sample size and create a sampling plan. Before you begin collecting data, you should determine the adequate sample size you will need to feel confident that your results are not due merely to chance.
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