CHAPTER

DEVELOPING AN EVALUATION PLAN

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As program staff start planning for program development and begin addressing the components of the logic model, they should keep in mind that as the logic model takes shape, the development of evaluation plans will follow soon after. The logic model can act as a guide to assist you in determining when your evaluation plan should be developed. As you identify the accomplishments and outcomes in your logic model, the next question to ask yourself is, “How will I determine if I met my accomplishments and reached the outcomes I identified?” The evaluation plan will provide a framework for why the evaluation is to be conducted, what is to be evaluated, and how the evaluation will be conducted. After you have assessed the community needs and determined what services/activities will be implemented to address those needs, the evaluation plan is the next step in your planning process.

Empowerment Evaluation
Before learning how to develop an evaluation plan, it is important to look at the purpose of conducting a program evaluation and understand the type of evaluation models available. This section of the chapter introduces the empowerment evaluation model and the benefits of using this model for program development and improvement. Gutierrez (1994) defines empowerment as the “process of increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that individuals, families, and communities can take action to improve their situations” (p. 202). It is a state of mind of worthiness and control that results in the change of the social and power structure (Swift & Levin, 1987). DuBois and Miley (1996) assert that “empowerment presumes that people themselves should be integrally involved in the change process— from defining their situation to determining goals, selecting their course of action, and evaluating the results” (p. 27).