HP 231 FS SY 23-24 NSF

Eliciting Evaluation Questions from Stakeholders. 

1. (From the program administrator) Are we running on time and within our budget? Are we meeting foundation expectations for this program? Is the program being implemented as planned? What changes have occurred and why? Are participants gaining the intended leadership skills at the desired level?
2. (From program staff) Are we delivering the program as planned? What changes are being made from the program model and why? How are trainees reacting to the program? Which sessions/methods work best? Which are worst?
3. (From participants toward whom the program is aimed) Have the leadership skills of participants really improved? Are they using them on the job? How? What portions of the program are most useful to participants?
4. (From the top managers in the organization) What evidence is there that the program is achieving its goals? Is this program having the desired impact on the units in which the trainees work? Would this program serve as a model for other change efforts in our organization? How is the work in this program changing our organization? What continuing expenses are going to exist once foundation support terminates?
5.  (From the foundation) Is the program doing what it promised? What evidence is there that variables targeted for change have actually changed? How cost-effective is this program? Could the program be established in other settings? What evidence is there that the program will continue once foundation funds are terminated?

Using Evaluation Approaches as Heuristics

• Decision-oriented approaches lead evaluators to focus on information needs and decisions to be made.
  • The particular management-oriented approach developed by Stufflebeam generates questions that typically arise at various stages of a program: the context (need), input (design), process (implementation), and product (outcomes) stages. 
• The participant-oriented approaches remind us that we should be sure to consider all stakeholders and should listen to what each group and individual has to say even during informal conversations. 
• The consumer-oriented approach has generated many checklists and sets of criteria that may be of considerable value when deciding what components or characteristics to study in an evaluation or what standards to apply.
• The expertise-oriented approach has produced standards and critiques that reflect the criteria and values used by contemporary experts in education, mental health, social services, criminal justice, and other fields.