Resources for Evaluation Planning
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THANK YOU for participating in It’s Not the Plan, It’s the Planning: Strategies for Evaluation Plans and Planning at the American Evaluation Association Summer Evaluation Institute.
Want to check out a sample of the course slide deck and handout?
It’s not the plan 2021 handout…2021
Haven’t taken the course? Contact me to bring the course to you!
Here are resources specific to evaluation planning, many of which I mention during the course:
Question Banks for Evaluation Planning:
Sheila’s Evaluation Planning Question Bank
- For planning the evaluation project itself
Sheila’s Evaluation Questions Bank
- For catalyzing ideas for developing program evaluation questions
Book:
A Practical Guide to Program Evaluation Planning
Free Guides:
Check out this great collection of evaluation quick reference guides from EvaluATE
Afterschool 101: How to Evaluate an Expanded Learning Program
Innovation Network Evaluation Plan Workbook
A Practical Guide for Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Evaluation Questions
Preparing for an Evaluation – Guidelines and Tools for Pre-Evaluation Planning
User’s Guide to Advocacy Evaluation Planning
W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook
Evaluation Plan Templates:
BetterEvaluation Template for Evaluation Plan
Thomas C. Reeves Evaluation Plan Template
Websites:
- “An international collaboration to improve evaluation practice and theory by sharing information about options (methods or tools) and approaches.”
- Loads of free content uniquely organized. You can search for content based on their Rainbow Framework that “organizes 200+ evaluation options into 7 clusters of evaluation tasks” as well as search by evaluation approach.
- Includes links to a Template for Evaluation Plan, and the BetterEvaluation Planning Tool.
Center for Evaluation and Research – Tobacco Control Evaluation Center
Includes sections on:
- Evaluation Designs
- Examples Activities
- Example PLans
- Evaluation Resources
University of Wisconsin-Extension Program Development and Evaluation
- Click on Evaluation for most of the available resources. “Evaluation is a core function of University of Wisconsin-Extension Cooperative Extension with support provided by the Program Development and Evaluation Unit (PDE).”
- Free Quick Tips “provide the faculty and staff of Cooperative Extension with easy-to-use, practical suggestions for improving their program development and evaluation practices. They are generally one or two pages in length, free of confusing jargon and based on basic, solid principles of program development and evaluation. Each suggests sources for further reading for people who are interested in greater detail.”
- Quick Tips are organized in categories: Plan your evaluation, Collect information, Analyze & interpret information, Communicate results, Improve your evaluation quality, and Retrospective post-then-pre.
Western Michigan University Evaluation Center
- “The Evaluation Center is committed to advancing the theory, practice, and utilization of evaluation through research, education, service, and leadership.”
- Home of the free Evaluation Checklists, “to improve the quality and consistency of evaluations and enhance evaluation capacity through the promotion and use of high-quality checklists targeted to specific evaluation tasks and approaches.”
Articles with Good Information on Evaluation Planning:
Formative, Summative, Performance, Impact: What Does it All Mean?
- Includes a set of questions on evaluation planning as well as explanations of different types of evaluation
Quality Criteria for Evaluation Plans
Three Tips for a Strong NSF Proposal Evaluation Plan
Sample RFPs for Case Study Exercise:
- Action for Healthy Kids RFP
- Appalachian Regional Commission RFP
- Grow Pittsburgh RFP
- High School Financial Planning Program RFP
- Sojourner Family Peace Center RFP
- We are New York (WANY) Program Evaluation and Ethnography RFP