Preparing the Groundwork
for
Evaluation
1.7 Identify how to use the evaluation
Identified
uses
- defined by factors that initiated the evaluation:
e.g.,
- program improvement
- giving direction to community
development
- publicity, community awareness
- raising community
support
- fundraising
- staff development
- volunteer education
- reports to funders
- relationship-building
with participants/stakeholders
Be
open to unanticipated uses for data
Need an Example?
Data collection by a social services agency for
a recreation program, documenting levels of activity
of youth in local areas was used to inform
local
government and communities about inequalities
and helped spur
initiatives by groups as varied as local
art galleries and the public health unit.
There will
usually be multiple audiences for evaluation
results:
- staff and volunteers,
- funders, partners and other supporters,
- participants and families
- the local community and
- perhaps a larger community with specialized interests.
Directed messages
An underlying message of this toolkit is that the
broader community, including academic researchers and
community programmers can benefit from knowledge gained
through individual outcome-based program evaluations
when well designed and well executed.
Direct summarized or excerpted
results to specific partners or segments
of the community using
usual
channels of communication and readily
available media to address
specific needs or in response to their
participation. (See Step 7).
Sharing results with the research community
Programmers may share researchers’ interests
to some extent in the mechanisms of a program
strategy—why
it worked as it did to affect participants. Their
focus is on knowledge to improve programming and increase
its benefits.
An ever-growing body of data is
being amassed
to help us all learn what can help children
and youth. Much of that data is from programs in
the United States,
which may or may not be equally representative
of Canadian findings. Developing partnerships
for evaluation purposes
with academic centres and researchers will
help promote Canadian knowledge
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