|
 |
||||||||
5. Reporting results
In order for the results of an evaluation to be useful, it is necessary to consider at an early stage when to report on the evaluation and
on its results, to whom and in which form.
Reporting results of the program evaluation involves both reports from project management teams to the program management and as a report from program management to higher-level bodies (e.g. university administration). It also depends on whether the results to be reported fomr from a formative or a summative evaluation.
Formative Evaluation
“A type of process evaluation of new programs or services that focuses on collecting data on program operations so that needed changes or modifications can be made to the program in the early stages. This type of (=>) evaluation is carried out while a (=>) project or (=>) program is implemented in order to provide timely, continuous feedback as work progresses”. (From: Nonprofit Good Practice Guide, Formative Evaluation)
In order to be informed about the progress on in the projects and to be able to offer support measures if required, the program management might request that the project team report on the project status at regular intervals during the life span of the project.
Possible topics for these project status reports are as follows:
1. Object of the evaluation (which part of the project / system has been evaluated?)
Object of the evaluation
Evaluand; object that is being evaluated, whether that object is a => project or => program. Evaluation process The logical procedure involving planning, executing, and analysing an => evaluation.
2. Goals of the
evaluation (which
questions is the evaluation to answer?)
3. Methods and
progress of the evaluation
4. Results (strengths,
weaknesses, conditional factors, difficulties, …)
5. Conclusions and recommendations for further development
The cross-project analysis is facilitated by a standardised status report structure across all projects. For example, there can be an analysis of whether there are several projects experiencing similar implementation difficulties.
A program status report that summarises not only the project status reports but also includes, if necessary, accompanying program measures should indicate
1. which measures have been implemented in the overall program so far,
2. how these measures have been evaluated,
3. what the results of the evaluation are (strengths, weaknesses, conditional factors, difficulties, etc.),
4. what the cross-project topics are (e.g. typical difficulties in project implementation)
5. and which conclusions and recommendations can be drawn for further development.
Summative Evaluation
Summative evaluation allows the [subsequent] control of quality, effects and usefulness of an educational course. The question of interest is whether an educational course or individual components of the course can meet certain expectations in practice (translated from Tergan, 2000).
The program management team usually requests that project staff members report conclusively on the evaluation of their project as part of the project report. Evaluation reports from individual projects are an important source for the summative evaluation at a program level. In order to be able to merge the individual reports into one overall report a standardised structure can be specified for the project evaluation report, which might look as follows:
1. Goals of the project
2. Measures to achieve the project goals
3. Criteria and indicators of goal
achievement
4. Evaluation methods and tools used
Evaluation methods
The means by which a => program or => project is evaluated. These are empirical research methods from social sciences as well as statistical approaches to data collection and analysis, which should be suitable for the evaluation aims and objects under study. For => formative evaluations, the design tends to include the use qualitative methods, whereas in => summative evaluations, the emphasis is on quantitative methods , though the boundaries are fluid. (translated from: Glossar wirkungsorientierte Evaluation, Evaluationsmethode)
5. Results of the evaluation
The report on the summative evaluation of the overall program can also be guided by this structure. In doing this, however, the reports from the individual projects should not simply be strung together but the report should be structured according to a topic relevant to the overall program (e.g. according to goals and sub-goals, products or technologies, target groups or pedagogical approaches).
Links:
- a checklist of contents of an evaluation report (doc, 32 kB) (source: Läubli-Loud, 1997).
- criteria for the assessment of evaluation reports (doc, 29 kB) (source: Läubli-Loud, 1997).
