Home » ExchangeEveryDay » Formulating Evaluation Questions



ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues


<< Previous Issue | View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> ExchangeEveryDay
Formulating Evaluation Questions
June 21, 2016
Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.
-Dr. Mae Jemison, first African-American female astronaut

In her article "Program Evaluation: How to Ask the Right Questions," in the Exchange Essentials article collection, Measuring Program Quality and Staff Performance, Marjorie Kostelnik provides these (summarized) guidelines for writing credible evaluation questions for evaluating your program:

  • Make sure you have a comprehensive understanding of the program's goals, activities, and context before formulating your questions.
  • Identify several evaluation questions related to all five program dimensions — effort, performance, process, adequacy, and efficiency.
  • Avoid mistaking effort for performance or adequacy.
  • Do not overlook the process dimension.  Because effort, performance, and adequacy questions often have easily quantifiable answers, it is tempting to focus on these dimensions to the exclusion of process.  Yet knowing to what extent program activities are implemented as planned, as well as what changes are made and why, sheds light on how effort and performance are related.
  • Address performance and adequacy questions prior to concentrating on those related to efficiency.
  • Phrase each evaluation question as a specific item to be measured.




Exchange Essentials

All Exchange Essentials are 10% off for a limited time.

In our large collection of Exchange Essentials article collections, find resources on subjects such as administration, child development, curriculum, environments, family, and leadership.

Use coupon code ESSENTIALS at checkout.

Offer valid through April 15, 2022, at 11:59 pm Pacific Time.
May not be combined with any other offer.

ExchangeEveryDay

Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

What is ExchangeEveryDay?

ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

Zeager Brothers - The Look of Grass Without the Upkeep
University of Dayton - Online. Part-Time. Real-World.

Save

ProCare - Child Care Management Solution




Post a Comment

Have an account? to submit your comment.


required

Your e-mail address will not be visible to other website visitors.
required
required
required

Check the box below, to help verify that you are not a bot. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this form.



Disclaimer: Exchange reserves the right to remove any comments at its discretion or reprint posted comments in other Exchange materials.