380.611.01 FUNDAMENTALS OF PROGRAM EVALUATION

Familiarizes students in different types of program evaluation, including needs assessment, formative research, process evaluation, monitoring of outputs and outcomes, impact assessment, and cost analysis. Students gain practical experience through a series of exercises involving the design of a conceptual framework, development of indicators, analysis of computerized service statistics, and development of an evaluation plan to measure impact. Covers experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental study designs, including the strengths and limitations of each.

By the end of this class, students will be able to:

1) Describe the purpose of different types of evaluation; 2) Design a conceptual framework that explains program impact, based on program objectives; 3) Develop indicators based on the conceptual framework; 4) Identify sources of data at the program and population level corresponding to different types of evaluation; 5) Describe the purpose of needs assessment and steps in the process; 6) Describe the purpose of formative research and identify the most common methods; 7) Explain the purpose of pretesting communications and the most common methods; 8) Outline the advantages and disadvantages of using service statistics for program evaluation; 9) Use a computerized MIS to obtain and interpret routine service statistics; 10) Describe the elements of experimental and quasi-experimental designs, and explain how they address the threats to validity; 11) Outline the characteristics, advantages and limitations of randomized control trials for evaluating impact 12) Design an evaluation plan.