Evaluation of Educational Programs

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Articulate what makes program evaluators distinct as practicing professionals.
• Develop an evaluation plan, including evaluation frameworks
• Describe and discuss how the program context influences an evaluation
• Describe and discuss roles of stakeholder groups in evaluation
• Determine appropriate evaluation questions and plans based on the context in which the evaluation is conducted
• Develop program logic models
• Critique program evaluations planned by others (meta-evaluation)
• Gain confidence in practicing program evaluation.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Project A: Object/program description	15%
Project B: Situation/context analysis	15%
Project C: Evaluation plan, methods, and research paradigms	15%
Project A-C: Final paper	30%
Case Competition	10%
Participation/Professionalism	15%

Attendance/Participation:

Class participation is required. Be prepared to discuss the readings during class and to actively participate in class activities and in-class assignments. Pre-course and post-competency self-assessments will be done on the last day of class.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

• Alkin, M. C., & Vo, A. T. (2017). Evaluation essentials: From A to Z (2nd ed). New York, NY: Guilford Publications.
• Russ-Eft, D., & Preskill, H. (2009). Evaluation in organizations: A systematic approach to enhancing learning, performance, and change. Basic Books.