Mission Centered Program Evaluation

Do you feel unsure where to begin when it comes to implementing a plan for program evaluation? 

Recently Dr. Tarek Azzam, Director at the Center for Evaluation and Assessment at Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, UCSB, offered a webinar to provide some guidance. The webinar offered a cursory overview of how to use evaluation as a means of truly supporting the mission of your organization.  Following are some of the key takeaways and resources provided:

• The evaluation process should begin with engaging stakeholders.
• Start with an evaluation plan that is feasible for your organization.
• The evaluation process is continuous and builds to greater depths of understanding and rigor through subsequent evaluation cycles.
• Always identify the people who will be responsible to ensure the evaluation data is implemented. 

Dr. Azzam recommends the Program Evaluation Framework developed by Centers for Disease Control, as a useful model to use to implement program evaluation from beginning to end. 

With this advice in mind, the process of evaluation will become so much more meaningful and approachable for your organization. 

If you would like to look at this topic in more depth, following are some additional resources:

• American Evaluation Association 
• Better Evaluation 
• Kellogg Foundation Logic Model Guide