AsthmaProgramGuide_Mod1-79
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Nov 24, 2024
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Module 1
Appendix C.2
Working with an Evaluator
It is important to understand that you will be working in partnership with any evaluator you hire
or contract. Although hiring or contracting an evaluator may lessen the work involved for you
and your staff, you will not be able to turn over all responsibility for an evaluation to them. An
evaluator cannot effectively do their job without your involvement.
As a result, it is important to consider how you might be engaged in the evaluation activities and
discuss with the evaluator how they envision the asthma program staff (and any of your partners)
being involved in the evaluation. To fully support the evaluation, it is critical that the leadership
of the asthma program makes it clear to all team members that they are expected to engage in
evaluation, approximately how much time they should anticipate dedicating to the evaluation
tasks, and how they will work with staff members to ensure that this is feasible given their
existing workloads.
Evaluators vary in how they practice evaluation. Their approach may be informed by one or
more existing evaluation theories (Christie & Alkin, 2013) such as Utilization-Focused
Evaluation (Patton, 2008), Program Theory Driven Evaluation (Chen, 2015), Transformative
Evaluation (Mertens, 2008), or others. Depending upon the evaluation theory/theories the
evaluator draws upon, involvement may be minimal (e.g., contributing information to developing
a logic model, discussing potential evaluation questions) to substantial (e.g., developing data
collection instruments, collecting data, analyzing data, and subsequently interpreting findings)
(King & Stevahn, 2013).
You may find it helpful to discuss with the evaluator how they practice evaluation and consider
the extent to which this resonates with what you need and want within the asthma program. You
might find that you prefer a different mix of control or involvement or that this evolves over time
if you develop a good working relationship with an evaluator. Regardless, you need to have
clarity about what tasks program staff members and partners will be expected to be involved
with and to be prepared to allocate the time to the tasks.
Learning and Growing through
Evaluation
most closely aligns with use-focused evaluation approaches, in which program staff
members and their partners are engaged as partners in evaluation planning and implementation.
As such, we urge you to be cautious of bringing on an evaluator who suggests there will be
minimal to no involvement from program staff members and partners in such activities (i.e.,
program staff members and partners will only be asked to serve as respondents to surveys,
interviews, etc., and not in the planning or implementation of the evaluation itself).
Selecting an Evaluator
Your decision about the right evaluator for your program will depend on what you are looking
for in terms of the mix of technical skills, familiarity with the program or context, and personal
characteristics. The evaluator attributes included in
Appendix C.1
. will be helpful when
selecting an evaluator. At a high-level, you should make sure to take the following into
consideration
•
Experience with program evaluation
•
Ability to communicate effectively
•
Basic knowledge of asthma or other chronic disease programs
Appendix C
Page C-4
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