©: Evelyn Daniel,
Page rev/ Sept. 24, 2001.

ANCHASL GRANTS WORKSHOP

PLANNING THE EVALUATION

Keep in mind that your goal is to help the funding source meet its objectives"

An evaluation component strengthens the proposal since it presents a method of determining if the project actually did what it was supposed to do. In general, federal and state funding sources place heavier emphasis on evaluation than most private sources do. Still, evaluation is an important part of a project for several reasons:

The two general criteria for assessing results are:

If you have followed good procedures for writing your objectives you will have a general method and performance standards for the first question already specified. The second question requires an audit of procedures.

The evaluation section should identify:

The scope (cost, elaboration, time) of the evaluation should be appropriate to the size of the project. The technical soundness of data collection instruments and procedures should be demonstrated. The methods of data analysis should be described and justified. Any standards used to judge the result should be identified. The content and timing of reports based on the evaluation should be indicated.

The person or persons responsible for the evaluation should be identified and credentials provided if the individual is a consultant, a common approach for a large research project. Another approach is to hire a statistician or graduate student with statistical expertise to collect and analyze quantitative data. Or if you have chosen a more qualitative approach, you may wish to hire an outside expert to conduct unbiased focus group interviews to ascertain satisfaction, attitude or perception change.