Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines

A highly esteemed and comprehensive overview of program evaluation that covers common approaches, models, and methods.

As schools and other organizations increase their demand for information on program effectiveness and outcomes, it has become even more important for students to understand the prevalent approaches and models for evaluation, including approaches based on objectives and logic models, participative, and decision-making approaches. The new tenth edition of Program Evaluation not only covers these vital approaches but also teaches readers how to best mix and match elements of different approaches to conduct optimal evaluation studies for individual programs.

Helping both students as well as professionals who are new to the field, this text provides practical guidelines for conducting evaluations, from identifying the questions that the evaluation should address, to determining how to collect and analyze evaluative information, to ascertaining how to provide evaluative information to others. Making extensive use of checklists, examples, and other study aides, Program Evaluation teaches students how to effectively determine the central purpose of their evaluation, thus making their evaluation more valid, more useful, and more efficient.

The revised edition of the text includes new approaches to program evaluation, an expanded discussion of logic models, added information on mixed models, and, as always, updated coverage of the most current trends and controversial issues in evaluation.

Designed for students and professionals, the Fourth Edition of Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines provides instruction for conducting evaluations, from identifying the questions that the evaluation should address, to determining how to collect and analyze evaluative information, to ascertaining how to provide evaluative information to others. Making extensive use of checklists, examples, and other study aides, Program Evaluation teaches students how to effectively determine the central purpose of their evaluation, thus making their evaluation more valid, more useful, and more efficient.

The revised edition of the text includes new approaches to program evaluation, an expanded discussion of logic models, added information on mixed models, and, as always, updated coverage of the most current trends and controversial issues in evaluation.

New to this Edition:

• New approaches to evaluation including theory-based evaluation, logic models, organizational learning, and building evaluation capacity allow students to explore even more ways to find solutions and best practices.

• An expanded discussion of how to use logic models and other methods to identify the purposes of an evaluation further aides students in understanding and conducting effective evaluations.
• More examples, references to examples, and additional suggested readings give students more opportunities to explore and practice what they are learning.
• Updated content throughout the text includes new findings and current events related to the field, keeping readers up-to-date on the latest developments in program evaluation.

"This is a landmark text and it remains the definitive classic for training new evaluators. The authors have truly made an important contribution to the field...Nothing comes close to this text in terms of coverage, balance of theory and practicality, and usefulness in the field of evaluation." - Gary J. Skolits, University of Tennessee

"This is a great textbook. It is simply the most readable, most comprehensive introduction to program evaluation." - Ted Miller, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga