How to Correctly Evaluate a Social Program

¶ … Bedford Mountain Parenting Program

If this was the first run of Martiza's program and you conducted a formative evaluation, what would you expect the evaluation to reveal? How would this help Maritza's program? The objective evaluation of Martiza's program, first of all, should reveal to her how the program stacks up based on her original goals and against a standard for this type of social service. It should reveal gaps in service that she hadn't thought about, and both strengths and weaknesses of her program. The formative evaluation should reveal exactly what glitches there are in the program, what "breakdowns, lengthy delays, and departures from the program design" that are hampering process and success. What are the precise services and to whom are those services directed? This is one of the salient questions, so Martiza's program will answer those questions in a formative evaluation.

She should expect to receive objective data from a thorough program evaluation, and also she should expect to get helpful suggestions as to how to benefit from resources she may not presently be accessing. Are there standards for programs of this nature -- and are they being followed? Are the previously recommended sessions being observed as often as originally expected? How many dropouts have left the program and why? Do those helping Maritz facilitate the program know the key steps that should be taken with each client? These are other questions should be answered through a formative review. The bottom line for Maritz's program is she needs to understand that providing social and familial support for incarcerated women is in itself a potentially controversial crusade; there are officials in law enforcement and in social service agencies who might be skeptical about the Bedford Mountain Parenting Program -- hence the need for a formative evaluation, to verify that the program is on the right track to success.

TWO: If you to conduct a process evaluation on Maritza's program what would your overarching goals be and why? The formative evaluation is conducted at or near the beginning of the program, to help it get off on the right foot. The process evaluation is done in the middle or at the end of the program, and the goals of a process evaluation are as follows: a) a good description of the program; b) monitoring the program to see that it meets its objectives; and c) quality assurance. The evaluator's overarching goal would be to see if the program should continue as it is -- or does it need tweaking? Using process strategies should show if the program fulfilled its intended mission; who was involved and what organizations participated; and also, what collaborative efforts went into the program and did the staff follow through as predicted? I would be interviewing both the staff and the clients and examining all documentations (including minutes of board meetings and correspondence) that are available.