Uses of Evaluation
From EvaluationWiki
Potential Uses of Evaluation[1]
Formative Evaluation
• Assessing the needs, assets, and resources of an identified community to plan relevant and effective interventions within the community context
• Identifying the political environment, financial, strategic and structural context of the identified community to increase the likelihood that interventions will be supported by community leaders and organizations
These types of primary evaluation activities increases community participation, provide motivation for networking among community agencies and promote new coalitions/partnerships.
In later phases of the project, formative evaluation may focus on:
• Gathering contextual information to modify project plans and/or explain past identified risks/problems
• Identifying the financial,organissational,structural, systemci, political, social, and environmental strengths and weaknesses the community and the project
• Examining the impact of changing federal and state climates on project implementation and success
• Identifying and maximizing strengths in development
• Identifying and minimizing barriers to implementing activities
• Determining if project goals match target population needs
• Assessing whether available resources can sustain project activities
• Measuring the performance and perceptions of the staff
• Measuring the community's perceptions of the project
• Determining the nature of interactions between staff and clients
• Ascertaining the quality of services provided by the project
• Documenting systemic change
• Monitoring clients' and other stakeholders' experiences with the project, and their satisfaction with and utilization of project services
Without such information, it will be difficult to make informed decisions about how to improve your project. Furthermore, if environmental barriers to project implementation are understood, seemingly troubled projects might be deemed successful based on the barriers they overcame.
Summative Evaluation
Summative evaluation can serve an important role during each phase of a project’s development. Early on, you might focus summative evaluation on:
• determining what outcomes you expect or hope for from the project
• thinking through how individual participant/client outcomes connect to specific program or system-level outcomes
These types of early evaluation activities increase the likelihood that implementation activities are linked to the outcomes you are trying to achieve, and help staff and stakeholders stay focused on what changes you are really attempting to make in participants’ lives.
In later phases of project maturity, an effective summative evaluation process is critical to:
• demonstrating the effectiveness of your project and making a case for its continued funding or for expansion/replication
• answering questions about what works, for whom, and in what circumstances, and how to improve program delivery and services
• determining which activities and contextual factors are supporting or hindering outcomes and overall effectiveness
=References
1. Evaluation Handbook , W.K. Kellogg Foundation (PDF)
