How to Conduct a Program Evaluation

Assessment, outcomes, impacts – though they’re all the buzz in the funding community, these words can strike fear in the heart of an afterschool administrator. While program evaluation might sound intimidating, it can be incredibly helpful to an organization that wants to improve or advocate better.

The first step for many administrators is getting past the notion that evaluation is a hassle. “Evaluation can be part of your ongoing program without adding a lot of extra work or costs,” says Itamar Harari of the Collaborative After-School Project (CASP) at California Polytechnic State University.

What's more, say Itamar and his wife and working partner Brenda Harari, evaluation needn't be about "judging" your program by attendance counts or test scores. "Programs should set their own criteria for improvement," Brenda emphasizes.
 

Decide upfront what needs assessing. Do you need evidence of your successes (or areas of need) to show sponsors? Or is it more important to identify where your program can stand to improve from within?

Once you determine whether your ultimate audience is external or internal, the next step is finding your focus. “What question do you want answered?” says Paul Ahrens-Gray of Global Learning Inc. “Have a goal in mind, and that will set the direction.” 

Examples of guiding questions include: How can we retain staff better? How effective is our curriculum? Does our schedule meet families’ needs? Are parents (or school administrators) as involved as we’d like? Whatever your question, it should be something you’re truly interested in getting to the bottom of.

Next comes designing the evaluation tool to help you answer that question. Surveys of students, parent focus groups, one-on-one interviews with principals, or culling through existing records all qualify. The Hararis recommend setting a schedule and sticking to it. When will your tool be developed? Who will administer it? When will analysis begin?

In a program improvement evaluation, the analysis phase may present opportunities to involve key stakeholders – such as parents who may help develop strategies for addressing an identified challenge. In an advocacy evaluation, the next phase – reporting – is when stakeholders become most involved, as you share evaluation results in grant reports, press releases, etc.