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RECAP

Week 3

Jamila Curry, Clay Sipora, Danella golden,

Elyse G Crawford, Renzi Ricketts

YDP 8040: Assessment and Evaluation of Youth Programs

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YDP 8040: Assessment and Evaluation of Youth Programs

LAST TIME IN 8040...

Articulating Program Theory

Assessing Program Theory

Assessing Implementation

week 3

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PROGRAM THEORY

Articulating

Once youth learning and developmental outcomes have been established, we must show and communicate how program activities will produce those outcomes.

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PROGRAM THEORY

How and why programs work

assessing

HOW DO WE DO THIS?

Avoid Black Box Evaluation (Rossi)

We don't just work hard to plan and implement an evaluation to shrug off the results. We want to know the why and want to do with it!

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    • Compare the results of the needs assessment.
    • Identifying critical assumptions around our research questions, reviewing the literature, and then evaluating those.
    • Compare the theory with other research and practices.
    • Observations & Interviews.

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IMPLEMENTATION

Put another way...assessing theory in action!

assessing

HOW DO WE DO THIS?

    • Set the criteria, through your logic model or Theory of Change model
    • Conduct research using an appropriate length of time for the program
      • TIP: It may be helpful to research what is considered an appropriate length of time for YOUR specific program
    • Consider using continuous monitoring in systems like Excel, Google forms, etc.
    • Keep in mind that every participant will get something different out of the program, and engage in the program in their own way
    • What you're looking to do is answer the question of "Are we putting theory into practice in a way that fulfills our program goals?"

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IMPLEMENTATION

Put another way...assessing theory in action!

assessing

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

COVERAGE

    • The extent to which your target group recieves the program as intended

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BIAS

    • Describes how some groups have greater participation in the program than others

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ADAPTATION

    • Recall from last week's discussion board how we talked about program fidelity vs. adaptation; when assessing implementation, we should keep in mind what (if any) adaptations were made, and any that perhaps should be made in the future!

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Theory of Change Models

These Models illustrate changes that occur as a result of a program, but they focus on the why of a program.

The information provided gives a more contextual explanation of the program's solutions to a problem.

Logic Models VS Theory Of Change Models

Logic Models:

Logic Models explain the way and the results of a program.

These models help to illustrate the outcomes

from a specific program and describe the what.

A logic model shows step-by-step how to arrive at a goal or outcome, giving the outcomes based on steps and inputs.

Both logic and theory of change models create visualizations of a program. These can be used to create interest/funding in programs.

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Readings Overview

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Morgan, C., Sibthorp, J., & Browne, L.P. (2016)

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    • Fidelity
    • Quality
    • Adaption
    • Participant
    • Responsiveness

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Berkel, C., Mauricio, A.M., Schoenfelder, E., & Sandler, I.N. (2011)

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Dimensions of Implementation

    • Differentiation
    • Dosage
    • Reach
    • Monitoring
    • Fidelity
    • Quality
    • Adaptation
    • Responsiveness

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