 Planning
a Meaningful Evaluation
2.3
Consider a broad range of objectives to evaluate
What
is most meaningful to evaluate?
Sometimes
outside agents such as funders or government
agencies identify what they want you
to evaluate. However,
you may suspect or observe unanticipated
effects. Broaden your thinking about might be expected
to result and allow
room for new discoveries.
Need an example?
The obvious evaluation question in
a program putting volunteers into schools to tutor
children with learning problems would be: “Did the tutored
children improve their reading skills?” However,
the programmers also decided to look for effects in
tutors— students in teacher training—after
working closely with children who struggled with reading
difficulties. They found that student volunteers gained
considerably in their appreciation of specific literacy
problems and became more knowledgeable about terminology,
conditions and strategies for helping children. Because
the program had such a beneficial effect on the student
teachers it was continued as an integral part of the
teaching curriculum.
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