Program Development: Evaluate

 

Step 7: Evaluate degree of change: behavior/practice change, technology adoption, program impact

After all educational events and activities have been conducted, an educator should identify the degree of clientele change. This is an important step in understanding whether or not the program had an impact on the issue. Although this task can be daunting, it does not have to be when an educator is equipped with the right knowledge of evaluations. Summative and formative evaluation methods can provide you with the best overall understanding of your program.

Use the evaluation forms available to you through our evaluation service. It is important to know how to use scan forms, and also when and when not to use evaluation forms.

 

Step 8: Interpret evaluation results

Interpreting evaluation results is a high priority for educators because it enables them to organize data into a concise narrative. Extension educators should use strategies for effectively reporting evaluation results, including clearly communicating the change that stemmed from the series of educational interventions conducted.

In many cases when an educator uses an evaluation scan form and sends their completed forms to the organizational development evaluation team, they will receive a form with tables reflecting various statistics. However, it is the educator’s responsibility to interpret those tables, make sense of the data, and create meaningful tables/graphs/charts that will reflect the program’s impact.

To help you understand the data, here are some fundamental questions related to determining the appropriate clientele change level.

Once data has been collected, submitted to the organizational development team for analysis, and sent back

an educator needs to determine the impact that the program had on the issue. The Kirkpatrick method of identifying impact is useful in Extension and should be understood by educators.

 

Step 9: Tell story to stakeholders

Interpretation of programs or telling our story is a high priority for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Interpreting evaluation results and sharing them with various stakeholders is more critical today than ever. By effectively interpreting and marketing the results of programs stakeholders can have a clear understanding of the value of specific programs in a county, community and the state.

When interpreting program results, an educator should address the “3 Rs” of interpretation.  The “3 Rs” are Relevance, Response, and Results.  In order for Extension educators to effectively address the “3 Rs” they should ask themselves the following three questions:

  1. What was the relevance of the program (Why was the program conducted)?
  2. How did Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service respond to the relevant issue in terms of educational interventions?
  3. What are the results in terms of clientele change because of the educational intervention?