Most program evaluation efforts concentrate on assessments of "program implementation" and "program outcomes." However, another area of programs that has not received sufficient attention in the literature is evaluating the plan of the program. Since the quality of the plan and planning process can influence program…

Evidence-based programs and grassroots programs are often adapted during implementation. Adaptations are often hidden, ignored, or punished. Although some adaptations stem from lack of organizational capacity, evaluators report other adaptations happen in good faith or are efforts to better fit the local context. Program implementers, facilitators…

Large-scale education interventions aimed at diminishing disparities and generating equitable learning outcomes are often complex, involving multiple components and intended impacts. Evaluating implementation of complex interventions is challenging because of the interactive and emergent nature of intervention components. Methods that build from…

Intervention scientists have used program theory-driven evaluation to design, implement, and assess the success of intervention programs for decades. However, interventions often are designed without the input of the community for which they are intended. The lack of incorporation of community members' voices that participate in various…

We assessed whether an adaptation of value-added analysis (VAA) can provide evidence on the relative effectiveness of interventions implemented in a large school district. We analyzed two datasets, one documenting interventions received by underperforming students, and one documenting interventions received by students in schools benefiting from…

This brief report describes the conception, development, and use of a rubric in evaluating the feasibility of a new program. The evaluators searched for a meta-analytic tool to help organize ideas about what data to collect, and why, in order to create a detailed story of feasibility of implementation for the client. The main advantage of using…

Sustainable community health improvement often requires the implementation of complex interventions in complex systems. Drawing from the "Four Keys to Success" frame (theory, implementation, support, and evaluation), this article describes how we used a formative evaluation approach to foster a learning system capable of monitoring and…

This study systematically reviewed evidence regarding health program and service evaluations in Indigenous contexts. Following the PRISMA guidelines and combining terms for 'Indigenous populations' and 'health programs and services'. Eight principles emerged: Principle 1: Adopting Indigenous led or co-led approaches is vital to balance power…

This case study examined the functional role activities of developmental evaluators in a school and community partnership employing a collaborative program model to improve an urban underperforming public school. Program implementers' assessments of program developments and their experience with developmental evaluators were also examined. Data…

Project schedules are logic models that focus on the timing of program activities. Value derives from the fact that schedule changes are not random. Why they occur, and how long they last, can reveal information that would not be easily revealed with other approaches to evaluation. Also, using project schedules as logic models forges a strong link…

Chronic diseases with behavioral risk factors are now the leading causes of death in the United States. A national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) monitors those risk factors; however, there is a need for national and state evaluations of chronic disease surveillance systems. The Department of Health and Human Services/Centers…

Many evaluations of programs tend to show few outcomes. One solution to this has been an increasing prominence of the movement that requires programs to implement evidence-based interventions (EBIs). But in a complex world with complex organizations and complex interventions, many challenges have arisen to the implementation of EBIs with fidelity…

Evaluating initiatives implemented across multiple settings can elucidate how various contextual factors may influence both implementation and outcomes. Understanding context is especially critical when the same program has varying levels of success across settings. We present a framework for evaluating contextual factors affecting an initiative…

This article focuses on the design of a critical realist review that deployed Bhaskar's resolution, redescribing, retroduction, eliminating, identifying, and correcting schema and Pawson and Tilley's Context-Mechanism-Outcome configuration underpinned by realist social theory. Methodologically, the review examined the relationship between…

From a utilization-focused evaluation perspective, the success of an evaluation is rooted in the extent to which the evaluation was used by stakeholders. This paper details the "Expectations to Change" (E2C) process, an interactive, workshop-based method designed to engage primary users with their evaluation findings as a means of…