COMMUNICATION AND EVALUATION IN PLANNING

I. COMMUNICATION IN EDUCATIONAL PLANNING

INTRODUCTION

Educational planning is as old as state education, that is, much older than economic planning. Until comparatively recent times, however, educational planning was haphazard rather than deliberate, a matter for local rather than central government, concern with individual educational systems, and no effort was ever made to state the objectives that planning was supposed to satisfy. The Second World War change all that: the post-war explosion in the demand for education, the new interest in central economic planning, the obsession in growth rates with both developed and developing countries combined to promote a new attitude to the administration of education. Educational planning by the State with the purpose of promoting economic objectives is now as universally approved as economic planning itself.

Consider the curious predicament of an educational planner who consults the fast-growing literature on the economics of education for guidance in making policy decisions. On the one hand, he is told to gear the expansion of the educational system to quantitative forecast of the demand for highly-qualified manpower. On the other hand, he is urged to project what id quaintly called.

I.I GENERAL PRINCIPLES

The issue of communication has been a subject of interest and curiosity ever since the beginnings of human society. It took centuries to explore the working mechanisms of communication, to systemize communication and to give it a framework so to speak. Furthermore, communication tools and new tasks appeared on the scene, including e-government. In order to utilise the most up-to-date communication possibilities, we have to get acquainted with the general basic rules that drive an govern communication.
The limits and boundaries of communication are not firmly set, they are expandable, and they should be expanded, too. This science is not finished, there are no theses, there are no rules carved in stone, but every new practice that stands the test of thesis-synthesis-antithesis can widen and extent our knowledge. The tools of communication get wider and take new shapes daily, the development of IT and telecommunication create new challenges for the users to face, and if they wish to use them efficiently, they need to increase their knowledge on communication on the daily basis.
On top of that, development involves change, new ways of doing things. Will people have the confidence to make a project work? Will they acquire the new knowledge and skills they need? How can barriers of illiteracy be overcome? Communication media and techniques can be powerful tools to advise people about new ideas and methods, to encourage adoption of those ideas and methods, and to improve training overall.

A decisive role can be played by communication in promoting human development in today's new climate of social change. As the world moves towards greater democracy, decentralization and the market economy, conditions are becoming more favourable for people to start steering their own course of change. But it is vital to stimulate their awareness, participation and capabilities. Communication skills and technology are central to this task, but at present are often underutilized. Policies are needed that encourage effective planning and implementation of communication programmes.
Communication is a two-way process of giving and receiving information through any number of channels. Whether one is speaking informally to a colleague, addressing a conference or meeting, writing a newsletter article or formal report, the following basic principles apply: * Know your audience. * Know your purpose. * Know your topic. * Anticipate objections. * Present a rounded picture. * Achieve credibility with your audience. * Follow through on what you say. * Communicate a little at a time. * Present information in several ways. * Develop a practical, useful way to get feedback. * Use multiple communication techniques.
Communication is complex. When listening to or reading someone else's message, we often filter what's being said through a screen of our own opinions. One of the major barriers to communication is our own ideas and opinions.
There's an old communications game, telegraph, that's played in a circle. A message is whispered around from person to person. What the exercise usually proves is how profoundly the message changes as it passes through the distortion of each person's inner "filter."
Principles of Effective Persuasion
Whether making a formal presentation at a meeting or writing a report or fact sheet, the following principles hold. * Do not oversell or overstate your case. Make effective use of understatement. * Outline the topic you are trying to cover into two parts. The first part should give broad background information, while the second part provides a detailed summary. * Persuasion depends on clarity and simplicity. Avoid the use of jargon and buzz words. * Be prepared to back up claims or facts immediately. * Incorporate major anticipated objections into your program or presentation. * Address all relevant aspects of a topic, especially those that may affect the functioning of an organization. * Use graphics and audiovisuals appropriately. * Consider ways to get meaningful input from people. Find out what they think about the innovation or change.
Planning Stages is divided into three stages: 1. Plan Formulation * the stages of strategic management that involves the planning and decision making that lead to the establishment of the organization’s goal and of a specific strategic plan.

2. Plan Implementation * The stage of strategic management that involves the use of managerial and organizational tools to direct resources toward achieving strategic outcome.

3. Plan Evaluation * Evaluation and implementation should simultaneously be undertaken to diagnose the status of the plan.

General Rules on Communication
Mankind was created in such a way that he be capable of transmitting his thoughts, feelings, emotions, wishes and requests to another person, and be capable of receiving and decoding such messages. The process whereby people receive and send messages is called communication. Just to be complete we must also say that the development of technology made it possible for us to communicate not only with people, but also with machines.
The term “communication” comes from Latin: Communitas = community, communicative Communicatio = making public, transmitting thoughts Communication is transmitting information and meaning from one person to another. This can happen between two people, between one person and several persons, or in the wider scene between organisations. By definition, just transmitting information is not yet communication because an important element – the reception and understanding of the message – is missing. Thus the main difference between news and information is that information is a communication tool that is fulfilled only if the sender and the recipient are synchronised (meaning that there is understanding between them).
Communication assumes a higher level of intellectual activity and also some organisation activities, though it cannot be considered exclusively as human activity. We have seen a number of examples to communication between animals or even plants, and in our modern era between people and machines, or between people and the virtual world.

Some General Rules on Communication 1. Personal or impersonal communication should refer both to action and rationale. 2. To achieve goals, points of appeal in communication vary among different group of people; to some prestige and authority; to others, cold logic and still to some others, the challenge of involvement or participation. 3. When messages are complex, the conference type of communication process is effective. 4. Vertical communication should be two-way-down-up and up-down. If higher echelons recognize the importance of reliable feedback and encourage subordinates to be analytical and critical on the plans, distortions will be minimized. 5. The importance of horizontal communication should be recognized and built into an organization. 6. Feedback should be broad-based and should yield information from various sources favorable or unfavorable to the views of decision makers. This is a very important part of communication because it can reduce the possibility of distortion of both the sent and received messages. This turns one-way communication to two-way communication, giving a chance to the reactions of the recipient.
On the other hand, as opposed to certain other interpretations, we have to accept that feedback, even if it is not always clear, is always present and working between the coder and the decoder. Based on feedback we can decide whether communication reached its purpose or not, do we perhaps need some more additional information or not. Face-to-face communication makes direct feedback possible (verbal or nonverbal), but in other cases indirect feedback (e.g.: drop in production, lack of discipline) indicate the failure of communication.
Feedback should be obtained from all relevant groups such as: * Those who are ultimately affected, like teachers or students. * Those who are part of the machinery/agency formulating or implementing the plan. * Those who are directly or indirectly concerned such as parents, other educators, politicians, social leaders and others.

An important element of taking in information. Emotional charge could play an important role here too, because if the information is too hasty, premature or of a rejecting-pejorative nature, the listener can make a value judgement even before listening to the whole message, taking it out of context, or simply switching off before all the information necessary to judge it is given. Reception is often characterised by selective attention. The point is that we try to take out of the message all that is positive information for us. At the same time we try to avoid whatever may threaten us and does not support our security and ideas, or whatever is incompatible with our preconceived idea of the truth. Here we need to refer to the role of the personal filter again. So, resistance can lead to re-interpretation or rejection in connection with the so called “discordant information”.
Regarding the above, the psychological and mechanical forces that could be the barriers to communication may play a very important role. These factors are certainly the major barriers to communication aimed at changing people’s minds and opinions. Ambiguous situations cause stress and anxiety in people. Most people want stable situations and try to preserve them, therefore they reject and revaluate any contrary information, or they simply disregard it.
If we want successful communication when trying to communicate something in order to change people’s (of group of people's) minds or behaviour, we have to consider the expectable reaction and motivations of people with the necessary empathy when giving them information.
Efficient communication is often hindered also by how people see certain sources of information regarding their content or form. As for the content of information, people usually prefer the ones with which they can identify and which support their own views, and also those which best correspond to their own situations, education, age, and emotional attitudes. One of the reasons for this is that it is easier for them to understand. This affects greatly the selection of information sources. Often we see that people tend to judge the information-carrying media upon formalities. For instance: when they are given brochures, the feel underestimated. The same could happen with certain announcements and pieces of news: we feel they are just “empty propaganda” or “blah-blah”, etc

I.2 PLANNING AS A PROCESS OF CONTINUING CONSULTATION

Planning is the legal framework and process by which the future of cities, towns and the countryside is decided upon and controlled. Development is controlled at a local level by the Local Authority’s Planning Department. Consultation is an important part of the Planning process in that it helps ensure that projects can demonstrate they are in the public interest.

The First Draft of the Plan
The first draft of your plan will be primarily organizing everything you’ve already compiled according to the structure provided by your guide. The first draft of the plan is generally an elaboration and logical arrangement of decisions made by the planning committee. It was observed that the language of the draft seemed to advocate the precautionary principle, rather than remaining informative and neutral. This raised the question of whether or not it would be appropriate to openly favour use of the precautionary principle. One member questioned the need to remain neutral. However, the view was also expressed that it would be possible and preferable to remain neutral while still pointing to certain areas in which the precautionary principle would be useful. It was also acknowledged that it is difficult to defend the blanket application of the precautionary principle in all fields and in all contexts. One speaker observed that the first draft does indeed already indicate some areas in which the precautionary principle would be of use.
Objectives of the first Draft * To achieve a measure of internal consistency among the different programs and projects conspiring the plan. * To indicate through systematic costing and cost-analysis the adequacy of available resources. * To suggest an order priority by project. * To analyze cost/benefit ratios, cost-effectiveness and economic feasibility of the whole plan and of specific projects included in the plan.

The Second draft of the Plan
It will embody the revised strategies and policies. The second draft will be the basis for: * Professional criticism by statutory, advisory and operational boards within the DECS * Discussion with agencies controlling various aspects of education * Consultation with representatives of institutional administrators, parents, teachers, student organizations and others * Negotiations with Central Planning Organization (NEDA) and the specialized major committees within its board as well as private agencies * Assessment of political reactions

Your first draft will have lots of holes and inconsistencies. In the second draft, you will eliminate them so that the plan reads well and appears to be complete. In terms of effort, this draft will be the most intense. You will need to go to many sources of secondary market research to compile market statistics and do competitive analysis. You will go through the financial forecasting process in excruciating detail. The resultant numbers look reasonable and attractive, and reflect a need for an appropriate amount of capital.
This is a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of time. You will be proud of your work product. It reads well. It makes a compelling case. It contains what it should, where it should, according to your business planning guide. Varying Public Reaction
Expanding a limited empirical base on effects of risk comparisons, a pilot experiment explored how varying elements of such comparisons might influence public response. So that one should not become disappointed, feel lukewarm and discourage with the with the public or lose faith in the effectiveness of consulting them.

Third Draft of the Plan

PLAN EVALUATION

First, we'll consider "what is a program?" Typically, organizations work from their mission to identify several overall goals which must be reached to accomplish their mission. In nonprofits, each of these goals often becomes a program. Nonprofit programs are organized methods to provide certain related services to constituents, e.g., clients, customers, patients, etc. Programs must be evaluated to decide if the programs are indeed useful to constituents. In a for-profit, a program is often a one-time effort to produce a new product or line of products.

So, still, what is program evaluation? Program evaluation is carefully collecting information about a program or some aspect of a program in order to make necessary decisions about the program. Program evaluation can include any or a variety of at least 35 different types of evaluation, such as for needs assessments, accreditation, cost/benefit analysis, effectiveness, efficiency, formative, summative, goal-based, process, outcomes, etc. The type of evaluation you undertake to improve your programs depends on what you want to learn about the program. Don't worry about what type of evaluation you need or are doing -- worry about what you need to know to make the program decisions you need to make, and worry about how you can accurately collect and understand that information.

An evaluation plan is a written document that states the objectives of the evaluation, the questions that will be answered, the information that will be collected to answer these questions, and when collection of information will begin and end. You can think of the evaluation plan as the instructions for the evaluation. This plan can be used to guide you through each step of the evaluation process because it details the practices and procedures for successfully conducting your evaluation. lan evaluation consists of two main steps---verification and rating. Plan verification involves determining whether or not a plan is capable of meeting the design specification. The main research issue in plan verification is determining the achievable manufacturing accuracy and comparing it with the design tolerances and surface finishes. Plan rating involves assigning a merit to the plan. If alternative plans exist, ratings are used to select the best plan.

Why is evaluation important in the Educational Enterprises?
While it is widely claimed that Enterprise Education has substantial positive impacts on participants, teachers and schools, these claims are generally anecdotal and based on experience, rather than robust data. Despite extensive investment in Enterprise Education by many governments around the world, the evidence base is somewhat patchy, with only a few scientifically grounded studies of impact.
This evaluation is an important step in understanding the impact of the Department’s funding for Enterprise Education. It is crucial that the Department understands the range of activities provided and their effectiveness, especially in terms of the valued added by these funds. Here, the results from the research present a national picture of provision including use of funds and the impact for pupils as well as potential longer-term benefits for the economy.

Features of a Plan Evaluation Process 1. Relevance – the plan evaluation process applies criteria valid for the measurement of the plan’s objectives. 2. Credibility – the same process is convincing and is not charge with biases. 3. Timeliness – evaluation should continue throughout the implementation of a plan, and its results should be available when decisions have to be taken. 4. Efficiency – the evaluation should aim the minimizing its own cost and and maximizing its output.

TYPES OF PLAN EVALUATION
There are at least three types of plan evaluation. The summative evaluation, performance evaluation and the evaluation done on a continuing program.

The Summative Evaluation assess program outcomes or impacts. To determine the relationship of different factors to outcomes, similar to formative evaluations, some information used in summative evaluations is collected early in the life of a program (e.g., baseline data, test scores). Unlike formative evaluations, however, a portion of the information is collected after the program has been completely implemented and adequate time has passed to expect outcomes to occur. In terms of evaluating educational technology, a summative evaluation might ask if teacher technology skills improved as a result of a professional development activity, if teachers are using technology to a greater extent in their instruction, or if technology improved student motivation or performance.

Some advantages of summative evaluations include: * They can, if designed correctly, provide evidence for a cause-and-effect relationship. * They assess long-term effects. * They provide data on impacts. * They can provide data on change across time.

The Evaluation Performance is a system for faculty evaluation is presented that suggests a performance middle ground appropriate to the realities of teaching while promoting the values associated with performance-based evaluation: measurability, objectivity, integration of performance with recognition and compensation, flexibility in application, discrimination among performance levels, and greater emphasis on achievement and motivation.

Issues in Program Evaluation 1. Program objectives and inputs to be evaluated. 2. Priority setting of several objectives 3. The need for local persons to be present when participation in program evaluation is discussed. 4. The technical design of the evaluation 5. The evaluation process. 6. The usefulness of the evaluation
Who are involved In the Evaluation of Plan?
In general the more people involved the better. That way you get more informed and diverse opinions about the program you’re gathering information on. Deciding who is appropriate to involve in your program evaluation is an important part of the planning and generally involves balancing what is feasible (what you have time and resources for) and what is best.

The Expert-Driven Approach
In the expert-driven approach to program evaluation, one or more outside evaluators are given full responsibility for conducting the evaluation including: defining evaluation objectives; designing the evaluation methodology; collecting and analyzing information; and formulating their own conclusions and recommendations about the program. Many people believe that the use of outside evaluators assures that the evaluation will be more “objective.”
In many cases, however, when responsibility for program evaluation is delegated to outside evaluation “specialists” they adopt a top-down, doctor-patient relationship with program staff. Often program staff is excluded from the process and the aura of secrecy which this creates, can make them feel suspicious and uncomfortable. The use of sophisticated data collection and analysis techniques reinforces the idea that the program must depend on an evaluation expert to carry out the exercise. Frequently, evaluation results are not easily understood by program personnel, nor readily applicable to their work. All of these factors can contribute to program staff’s disinterest and even alienation from an evaluation activity. In more traditional approaches to evaluation, evaluation “experts” often reject the involvement of program staff in the evaluation of their own programs. In many cases, when responsibility is delegated to evaluation experts to define the orientation of an evaluation, program staff resents being excluded and, therefore, either ignores or criticizes “the evaluators’ findings and recommendations.”

The Participatory Approach
In a participatory approach to program evaluation, an evaluation coordinator, often from outside the program or organization, works in partnership with program “stakeholders” in all phases of the evaluation process. Program stakeholders are those individuals who have a stake in how the evaluation comes out. They are persons who will later make decisions and use the information generated by the evaluation. Exactly who the program stakeholders are will vary from one situation, or evaluation, to another. In each instance evaluation planners will have to decide who the appropriate stakeholders are and to what extent some or all of them should be involved. Involving a larger rather than smaller number of people is not necessarily better. Also, it is important to remember that not all stakeholders will be interested or able to participate in this time-consuming exercise.

In a participatory approach the evaluation coordinator collaborates with program “stakeholders” to define the evaluation objectives, to develop the evaluation methodology, to collect and interpret information and to develop conclusions and recommendations. In this approach, the evaluation coordinator’s role is not only to structure and facilitate each step in the evaluation process but also to contribute as a full member of the evaluation team. In the participatory approach, the role of the stakeholders is: to share their experiences working with the program; to participate in collecting additional information about program implementation; to work with the evaluation team to analyze both the data collected and the experiences described; and to formulate conclusions about the program strategy and outcomes. In this approach, it is assumed that the quality of the evaluation will be better if the results reflect both the subjective perspective of program implementers and the more objective perspective of an outside evaluator. A participatory evaluation is based on the assumption that the stakeholders’ involvement will help ensure that the evaluation addresses the appropriate issues and will give them a sense of ownership over the evaluation results. It has been shown that stakeholder involvement also leads to greater use of evaluation results by program decision-makers and implementers. In addition, the participatory approach constitutes a learning experience for the program stakeholders who are involved. It reinforces their skills in program evaluation. In addition, it increases their understanding of their own program strategy, its strengths and weaknesses. Another benefit of the participatory evaluation is that the interactive evaluation process itself can contribute to improved communication between program actors who are working at different levels of program implementation.