Introduction to Program Evaluation

3 credits · Graduate

This course provides an introduction to the field of program evaluation ("programs" might be curriculum innovations, school reorganizations, teacher training reforms, instructional methods innovations, funding programs, or programs in the health or welfare areas). It will give an overview of issues of concern to practicing evaluators, researchers, program managers, and academics interested in field-based research. Those taking the course will be introduced to the history of the field, the basic concepts and intellectual disputes, the major methodological issues, and to some common "models" of how an evaluation ought to be conducted. Based on the understandings of the topics and issues discussed in this course, participants will be asked to conceptualize and design an evaluation in their area of personal and/or professional interests. The purpose of this exercise is for participants to develop skills for framing evaluation questions, designing, and describing an evaluation plan.