Launching Into Evaluation

Hi all, and welcome back to our podcast on Public Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation! This episode formally kicks off our study of this topic with a brief highlighting of components in chapters 1-3 that are critical for gaining a solid understanding of what is meant when we talk about evaluation. In chapter 1, we are going to get a lot of terms; I would say to focus on bolded terms like formative evaluation and summative evaluation that show up in the edges of the book pages. Chapter 2 takes us through the history of evaluation... which is great background knowledge but not something you need to dwell on too much although knowing the history of unethical research is certainly eye-opening. Our final chapter, chapter 3, is going to delve into present-day ethical considerations as well as the competencies that we look for in evaluators. These first few chapters are relatively easy and provide context, but if you find gaps in your understanding, please email me at jemille1@wsc.edu and I will assist you as soon as I can!