Program Evaluation 1

Program Evaluation
Andrea Merline
Walden University

Dr. Mitchell Pratt

Program Evaluation EIDT-6130-2
August 17, 2014

Program Evaluation 2
Program Analysis
The program that I am analyzing for this course project is a Middle School
Enrichment Program, entitled The Middle School of Pleasantville Enrichment Program.
The stakeholders involved in this program are the students, teachers, parents and
families, and administration. The interest for all stakeholders is to improve students
skills throughout the school year. This program is run by the administration at the
middle school, along with a group of teachers on an Enrichment Committee.
The goals of this program are to increase students skills, specifically in the areas
of reading, writing, and mathematics. This program came about based on the School
Improvement Plan (SIP). The Enrichment Program is considered a time for needed
intervention or enrichment, depending on the student. It was designed to give
students a block of time each day to work on specific skills in which they may need
extra support. For example, Language Arts teachers are given a particular skill to teach
throughout the school year. Some example Language Arts focus skills may be Citing
Textual Evidence, Analyzing Content, Studying and Applying Grammar, Studying and
Applying Vocabulary, Conducting Discussions, or Reporting Findings. The students and
their groups will rotate throughout the teachers and skills. Each student is exposed to
that focus skill and the teacher can cater the lessons to each small group, depending on
the particular needs for that group.
In addition to improving students academic skills, another overall goal for this
program is to encourage student improvement in general. Hopefully, these
improvements would then filter in to other areas of their lives such as their grades,

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motivation, and overall academic achievement. The interests of all the stakeholders are
all interconnected and overlap. Due to the fact that this goal is for the students, it then
directly relates to all of the other stakeholders. Every parent, teacher, and
administrator wants to see these students achieve their goals throughout the school
year.
Some other contextual factors that need to be considered within this program
are the students prior background knowledge and the school culture. Some students
have varying levels of background knowledge within the subjects and skills being
taught. Small groups are utilized for the majority of this instructional time.
The culture of the school is also important to consider. Student motivation was
also an issue in the beginning of this program. The students did not see the bigger
picture and did not want to put in the effort. They considered this time to be extra class
work in addition to their already full schedules. Over time, teachers tried to incorporate
engaging and fun learning activities to help maintain student motivation throughout
enrichment. It was also a chance for students to interact and learn with other students
that they may not be grouped with in their daily schedules. There needs to be a level of
importance and value brought to this program for the students to maintain motivation.
The students initially saw this program as more work in addition to their regular classes
and the purpose and goals were unclear. Consequently, creating a maintaining
motivation is important for this program and for the students to succeed.

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This program is still considered to be new at the middle school. It was rolled out
to the entire staff and student population last year, therefore this upcoming year is only
the second year it will be put into the daily schedule. It is currently being perceived by
teachers and parents as a positive chance for students develop areas in which they may
be lacking. Last year was considered a learning year. There was some confusion in the
beginning of the school year as to how the administration wanted this time to be
utilized. As time went on, the ideas and format has been more clearly laid out for all
people involved.
There are some political and ethical challenges involved in an evaluation of this
program. There are a great deal of stakeholders involved in the Middle School of
Pleasantville Enrichment Program. The stakeholders are very involved throughout this
whole program and I think that it something to keep in mind during an evaluation.
Keeping open communication with the stakeholders would be important to this
evaluation and it would allow them to understand the purpose for the evaluation from
the beginning.

Evaluation Criteria and Model Table

The program that I am analyzing for this course project is the Middle School of
Pleasantville Enrichment Program. The stakeholders involved in this program are the
students, teachers, parents and families, and administration. The interest for all
stakeholders is to improve students skills throughout the school year. This program is

Program Evaluation 5
run by the administration at the middle school, along with a group of teachers on an
Enrichment Committee.
Based on this background information, the purpose of this program evaluation is
to help explain the program outcomes and determine whether the overall key elements
of the program are being delivered. The following five questions will help guide the
program evaluation.
1. What are the data findings for areas of focus for the majority of the students in this
program?
2. Should the program be solely focused on the areas in which there is the most need?
3. According to each particular skill, how much have the students improved overall?
4. Should the amount of time spent each day on Enrichment be increased or
decreased?
5. Were the goals of this program achieved within the school year time frame?
I believe that the administration and teachers should also be involved in
determining the questions. One thing that is not being evaluated is the students actual
test score number. An important detail in this program evaluation would be to take the
breakdown the students performance and evaluate how the students skills have
increased over time. The final number of the score is something to take in to
consideration, but the breakdown of the performance skills is more important to the
students overall growth.

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Evaluation Model

EXPERTISE AND
CONSUMER-ORIENTED
APPROACHES

Advantages

PROGRAM-ORIENTED
EVALUATION
APPROACHES

DECISION-ORIENTED
EVALUATION
APPROACHES

Accreditation groups
Criterion Checklists
Applicable to many
areas
Ease of
Implementation
Bias Control
Emphasizes explaining
program outcomes
Avoids unknowns of
outcomes
Links program and
research
Works closely with
managers
Provides ongoing
information through
information systems
Sensitive to
information needs of
leadership
Focus on description
and judgment
Emphasis on
understanding and
use
Emergent evaluation
designs
Attention to context

Disadvantages

Lack of sponsors or
funding
Conflict of Interest
Reliability
Not open to debate

Too much focus on

research
Not enough focus on
stakeholders
Overemphasis on
outcomes
Predictability in
decision making
Focus on concerns of
managers or leaders
Assumption of
orderliness

Potentially high labor

and cost
PARTICIPANT-ORIENTED

Possible stakeholder
EVALUATION
APPROACHES
leads with less
knowledge of
evaluation

Less generalizable,
less replicable

Explain your choice of model for your program evaluation: For the Middle School
Enrichment Program that I chose to evaluate for this courses project, I believe that a
mixed methods approach would work best. The two approaches that I would like to
incorporate in to this evaluation are the Program Oriented Evaluation Approach and
Participant Oriented Evaluation Approach. Given the context of this programs

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evaluation these two approaches are superior to the other approaches because of the
focus on the overall program outcomes. All stakeholders will be able to know the
outcomes of this program while involving the stakeholders throughout the program
itself. Was this program successful for the students? What could be improved?
Through this, the program managers can receive valuable feedback particular to this
specific program and its needs.

Data Collection Design and Sampling Strategy

Audio Presentation
Reporting Strategy Table
Stakeholder

Reporting Strategy

Implications

Teachers

Written
Communication/Presentation

Next Step for

Program

Active Participants

Administration

Written
Communication/Presentation

Enrichment
Focus

Active Participants

Oral Reporting/Presentation

Increased
Involvement

Active Participants

Oral Reporting/Presentation

Enrichment
Customized

Active Participants

Parents
Students

Stakeholder
Involvement

Values, Standards, and Criteria: Attention should be focuses to specific stakeholder,

highlights, and any negative feedback should be addressed with recommendations for future
success.
Potential Ethical Issues: Misrepresentation of data and information or a negative
message.