Evaluating Program Effectiveness

This is a series of trainings that will cover the essential elements of evaluation.  By the end of the fourth session, participating organizations will have an evaluation plan.  Participants must attend all four sessions and do homework in between.  Registration will be limited to 20 organizations (prerequisite: Program Evaluation Overview, August 24).  Only one person from an organization needs to register.

Session I:     Planning and Focusing Your Evaluation, September 13, 2011

Session II:   Selecting Your Evaluation Approach, October 5, 2011

Session III:  Collecting and Analyzing Your Data, October 25, 2011

Session IV:   Reporting and Communicating Your Findings, November 15, 2011

Level
Intermediate: this workshop is designed for organizations that are willing to develop an evaluation plan and are prepared to devote some staff time to the effort.  

September 13, 9 am - 12 pm
Session I: Planning and Focusing Your Evaluation
Upon completion of this session, you will develop a better understanding of what will be evaluated, clarify the purpose of your evaluation, and formulate an appropriate framework for your evaluation. During the session, you will:
• Identify the components of an evaluation plan;
• Explore various strategies to develop a clear understanding of what will be evaluated;
• Review and discuss various purposes of evaluation and how evaluation  can be utilized in their organizations;
• Identify possible stakeholders and determine appropriate stakeholder engagement strategies; 
• Determine and prioritize appropriate evaluation guiding questions.

Presenter
Dr. Patty Emord has over twenty years experience working with community and nonprofit organizations, health professionals, academic settings, and private corporations. A strong facilitator with good interpersonal skills, Patty effectively leads groups in strategic planning, training and evaluation planning. Her services include facilitating organizational change and development, instructional design, providing training, and program evaluations. In her approach to projects, Patty stresses the importance of seeking stakeholder participation in organizational initiatives to yield useful and productive outcomes. She focuses on building capacity skills within organizations to help them become more self sufficient.

October 5, 9 am - 12 pm
Session II: Selecting Your Evaluation Approach
Upon completion of this session, you will be able to align your evaluation context and key questions with the appropriate design, method, and approach. During the session, you will:
• Explore different kinds of evaluations to assess program activities, quality, and impact;
• Identify the appropriate evaluation method that answers the key questions for your evaluation study; and
• Select the evaluation design to discover the right supporting evidence for your program.

Presenter
Carla Forrest, Ph.D. is a Quality Business Systems Analyst at Sandia National Laboratories where she facilitates and leads team efforts to establish and monitor quality management systems, supports operational planning and deployment initiatives, and helps develop measurement systems to determine organizational improvement. She works closely with executive management, leaders, and staff to develop the right solutions or interventions, which will be executed with the right audiences at the right times and through the right means. Carla participated in the Sandia Sponsored University Programs for ten years, while working full time, and upon graduation in 2006, received distinction for her Doctoral degree in Organizational Learning and Strategic Knowledge Management from the University of New Mexico. She has several peer reviewed publications in the field of organizational performance and intangible asset management.

October 25, 9 am - 12 pm
Session III: Collecting and Analyzing Your Data
Upon completion of this session, you will be able to select data collection methods, sampling strategies, and data analysis techniques appropriate to your evaluation design. During the session you will:
• Explore guidelines for using different data collection methods;
• Discuss validity and reliability issues for qualitative and quantitative approaches;
• Discuss approaches to sampling; and
• Select data analysis methods appropriate to your evaluation’s design and key questions.

Presenter
Linda Colón is an instructional design and evaluation consultant with over fifteen years of experience working in diverse educational program settings. Ms. Colón has a Master’s degree in education from the University of New Mexico with an emphasis in language, literacy and sociocultural studies. She is currently pursuing a doctorate at UNM in Organizational Learning and Instructional Technologies (OLIT) with an interest in interdisciplinary team collaboration, and organizational performance and evaluation. As a federal government contractor she has been involved in conducting training needs assessments; instructional design and development; and, training program certification and evaluation. As an educator Ms. Colón provided teacher training, technical assistance, and support in conducting participatory evaluations in communities in the Philippines while serving in the United States Peace Corp. She has taught middle and high school in several rural communities in New Mexico and Nebraska and served on multiple task forces involved in improving educational programs.

November 15, 9 am - 12 pm
Session IV: Reporting and Communicating Your Findings
Upon completion of this session, you will be able to effectively communicate and report the findings of your evaluation.   Participants will explore the various audiences of an evaluation, their information needs, and ways to effectively communicate evaluation findings.  During this session you will:
• Explore ways to involve evaluation stakeholders in the communicating/reporting process;
• Discover various communicating/reporting formats and how to use them most effectively.
• Practice developing a communications/reporting plan.

Presenter
Dr. Patty Emord has over twenty years experience working with community and nonprofit organizations, health professionals, academic settings, and private corporations. A strong facilitator with good interpersonal skills, Patty effectively leads groups in strategic planning, training and evaluation planning. Her services include facilitating organizational change and development, instructional design, providing training, and program evaluations. In her approach to projects, Patty stresses the importance of seeking stakeholder participation in organizational initiatives to yield useful and productive outcomes. She focuses on building capacity skills within organizations to help them become more self sufficient.