Lessons Learned Guiding Principles
Program evaluation helps determine how well a particular program works and if a program is not working as well as expected, it may be possible to shed light on:
There are basically two kinds of program evaluation: formative (or process) evaluation and summative (or outcome) evaluation. In plain language, evaluation can be used to measure the quality of delivery and/or the impact of delivery respectively.
Generally speaking, funders are more interested in evaluations of the impact of delivery (“summative evaluation results”).
o What specific aspects of a program are not working and why (e.g. by identifying shortcomings in program content or delivery, or by identifying systemic influences that impede clients’ progress such as gaps in service, waiting lists, inappropriate referrals, etc.), and
o What action can be taken to address the challenges.
o Formative or process evaluation focuses on what clients experience and accomplish during the course of a program and obtains diagnostically-useful feedback regarding program delivery.
o Summative or outcome evaluation assesses the impact of program implementation. It typically focuses on what clients experienced and accomplished some time after the program has been completed, and specifically, whether the program succeeded in assisting them in changing what it was that brought them to the program in the first place.
