About the Book
The activities in this book cover the entire process of evaluation, including:
- understanding what evaluation is
- the politics and ethics
- the influence of culture
- various models, approaches and designs
- data collection and analysis methods
- communicating and reporting progress and findings
- building and sustaining support.
Each activity includes an overview, instructional objectives, minimum and maximum number of participants, range of time required, materials needed, primary instructional method, and procedures for facilitators to help learners in the most common evaluation practices.
New to this edition:
- Expansion of activities from 72 to 89 captures the evolving nature and needs of evaluation practice with content from professionals in the field who are teaching, training, and practicing evaluation.
- New and freshly updated activities encourage active learning by offering students an opportunity to apply the concepts covered.
- Updated chapter introductions and new references and resources have been added to provide readers with more opportunities to ground their teaching and practice.
Table of Contents:
1. Overview of Evaluation
Definition of Evaluation
Evaluation Logic
Types of Evaluation
History of Evaluation
Evaluation Versus Research
Resources
2. The Politics and Ethics of Evaluation Practice
The Politics of Evaluation Practice
The Ethics of Evaluation Practice
Resources
3. Culture and Evaluation
Definitions
Resources
4. Focusing the Evaluation
Resources
5. Evaluation Models, Approaches, and Designs
Evaluation Models and Approaches
Evaluation Designs
Return-on-Investment Designs
References and Resources
6. Issues of Validity and Sampling
Reliability and Validity
Sampling
References and Additional Resources
7. Collecting Evaluation Data
Choosing Among Data Collection Methods
Surveys and Questionnaires
Individual and Focus Groups Interviews
Observation and Archival Data
Resources
8. Analyzing Evaluation Data
Qualitative Data Analysis
Quantitative Data Analysis
Resources
9. Communicating and Reporting Evaluation Processes and Findings
Why Communicate and Report?
Who Are Your Communicating and Reporting Stakeholders?
When and Why Are You Communicating and Reporting?
Resources
10. Managing the Evaluation
Developing an Evaluation Budget
Anticipating and Handling Evaluation Challenges
Resources
11. Building and Sustaining Support for Evaluation
References and Resources
12. Reflections on Learning
About the Author :
Hallie Preskill, PhD. is a Managing Director with FSG, a global nonprofit strategy, evaluation, and research consulting firm (since 2009), and leads the firm’s Strategic Learning and Evaluation practice. In her role as a senior advisor, she works on a wide variety of evaluation and learning projects. Sample clients include the Kresge Foundation, MasterCard Foundation, Knight Foundation, The California Endowment, Missouri Foundation for Health, Norlien Foundation, Packard Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, Blue Shield of CA Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. She has helped evaluate a wide range of initiatives and programs related to community information needs, substance abuse, early learning, poverty, arts and culture, teacher professional development, domestic and sexual violence, economic development, youth and education, and healthcare.
Prior to joining FSG, Hallie spent more than 20 years in academia, teaching graduate level courses in program evaluation, training design and development, organizational learning, appreciative inquiry and consulting. Her research has focused on evaluation capacity building, transfer of learning/training, evaluation use, and evaluation as a catalyst for individual, team, and organizational learning. Hallie’s other books include: Reframing Evaluation through Appreciative Inquiry (2006, with T. Catsambas), Evaluation in Organizations: A Systematic Approach to Enhancing Learning, Performance & Change (2001, 2009, with D. Russ-Eft), Evaluation Strategies for Effective Strategies for Communicating and Reporting (2005, with R. T. Torres and M. Piontek), and Evaluative Inquiry for Learning in Organizations (1999, with R. T. Torres), and Becoming the Change: What One Organization Working To Transform Educational Systems Learned About Team Learning and Change (2011, with R. Babiera).
Hallie was the 2007 President of the American Evaluation Association. She received the American Evaluation Association′s Alva and Gunnar Myrdal Award for Outstanding Professional Practice in 2002 and the University of Illinois Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004. Hallie holds a PhD from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Darlene Russ-Eft, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Adult and Higher Education, College of Education, Oregon State University (OSU). She received her BA from the College of Wooster in psychology and her MA and PhD from University of Michigan in cognitive psychology. She worked for international training companies as director of research before joining OSU, where she teaches doctoral and master’s courses to senior leaders and practitioners. Her research focuses on issues related to leadership development and HRD program evaluation. Her most recent book is titled Managing Social Science Research (2017, Wiley). She is past president of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD); past board member of the American Evaluation Association; and past editor of Human Resource Development Quarterly. In her previous role with international training companies and as a director for the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (ibstpiR), she has undertaken several studies examining global competencies related to HRD. She has received several awards for her research, including the Times Mirror Editor of the Year Award, the ASTD (now ATD) Research Article Award, and the AHRD Scholar Award. She was also inducted into the AHRD Hall of Fame.
Review :
The revised text provides an informative discussion about a range of evaluation topics and thoughtful structured activities related to each topic. The structured activities provide an opportunity to learn more about and reflect on each topic, resulting in one of the most unique and useful texts on evaluation in terms of content and design.
This book is a go-to resource for anyone teaching program evaluation—professors designing formal coursework, trainers conducting professional development, and staff members seeking to build evaluation capacity in their organization. Each chapter provides detailed lesson plans (including time estimates, materials needed, and appropriate handouts) that should empower even novice facilitators to adapt the activities for use in their practice. The expanded content is a welcome addition to a field that increasingly seeks to build evaluation capacity at multiple levels in organizations.
Building evaluation capacity is the largest challenge facing the evaluation profession. There′s no better book on how to do it. Practical, clear, relevant, and useful. Engage in these activities, capacity will be built, and evaluations will be useful.
Preskill and Russ-Eft have created a gem with their Second Edition. It takes readers on a systematic journey through evaluation that provides clearly defined and engaging activities that develop the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful evaluator. Those who already own the first edition will find this new edition contains eighteen additional activities that allow them to provide even more comprehensive development to their students, employees and peers. Whether working cover-to-cover, or dipping into sections throughout the book, readers are guaranteed to find proven activities that can be trusted to develop evaluators of all levels.
Preskill and Russ-Eft have collected an impressive number of useful and evocative activities to build the capacity of current and future program evaluators. Teachers of program evaluation and professional evaluators will find this excellent compendium of ideas and wisdom about evaluation an essential toolkit for their library.
