edu 571 assignment 5

Educational program evaluation

Change either as an individual or in an institution setting is not an easy and simple thing and mostly involves numerous stages of transition or misunderstandings prior to being fully implemented as per the expectations. A planned approach involves the development of a model which illustrates the stages in the process of transition that illustrate how an institution is anticipated to adapt to the changes that are made. The approach is very important as one is dealing with evaluation of the effectiveness of certain changes as it gives a clear picture of what the real situation is and how institutions has either failed or succeed in implementing changes through any created program (Smith, 2017). Evaluation involves the systematic investigation of the merit, worth or significance of a project. The planned approach helps in ensuring that one has a step by step process which illustrates the expectations and thereby making the evaluation process much easier and simpler.

According to the recent research on the planned approach most of the organizations in the world have spared millions of money that they spend on evaluation of change projects through using the planned approach. The technique has enabled firms to follow up on their organizational change and to be able to determine the capability of the corporate in adopting the implemented changes and determining the significance of these changes. It has allowed firms to be able to effectively solve the challenges that arise during the transitioning process as well as to acquire optimal benefits from their change programs (Kerzner, 2017). The planned approach helps in guiding organizations in the operations so as to minimize problems that result from lack of effective communication and failure of reinforcing the desired behaviors. In addition, the technique helps in pointing out the expectations of the firms to employees as well as other individuals who might be involved in the process of transitioning. The planned approach is very simple and mechanistic and therefore this implies that any firm be it a small business, medium or large firms can be able to effectively use it to achieve their desired outcomes as well as to monitor the transition process to ensure that the outcomes gotten are the desired ones. The planned approach is mostly applicable in evaluation of school programs as it offers a step by step process showing the transition and the anticipated outcomes in every stage (Horton, 2018).

In order to conduct a need assessment, the evaluator has to find solutions to questions such as: What are the needs of the target population? What specific services are needed in the education program? What are the characteristics of the target population? What arrangements could be used to provide the needed mechanisms? Moreover, ensuring that the developed program addresses the current issues is important. Therefore, one has to evaluate the program through answers questions such as: Is the program meeting the set objectives? How does the targeted population interact with the program? Are the services provided by the program satisfactory to the target population? What are the perspectives of the personnel, administration and organization regarding the program? Finally, one evaluates the outcomes of the program are met through answering the questions: What benefits does the services and activities in the program yield? Is the target population being affected by the program in a negative way? Does the program solve the problem which caused change to be proposed? Is the program efficient in yielding the required outcomes? (Vedung, 2017).

In order to ensure that a program is efficient in solving the problem which demands for change, evaluation of efficiency of the program is very essential. Therefore, one has to understand how the program is helping meet the needs of the targeted population and the services which are offered by the program in ensuring that all people are benefiting from it. One has to list the needs of the population and match them with the services offered by the program so as to ensure that no one is left out by the program and to make sure that the program does not have services which do not concern the intended population (Beecher.et.al, 2017). The evaluation process checks how the program is operating an also points out any negative effects which might be caused by the program. In addition, assessment of the outcomes helps in bringing out a clear picture of how the program is actually ensuring that the set goals are achieved.

In evaluating the school programs, the stakeholders who are involved are the teachers, students, parents, administrators, staff members as well as the community members. These are the people who are concerned with the welfare of the school and therefore they should be involved in the development of education programs so that to ensure that their needs and perceptions are considered in the process of creating the program (Gates, 2017). This ensures that all stakeholders are able to determine what is expected of them and how the program will help make the society better. In order to obtain their involvement in this process, their views should be derived in the social activities that help address the social problems in communities.

References

Beecher, B., Arthur, L., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2017). Programming and planning in early childhood settings. Cengage AU.

Gates, E. F. (2017). Learning from seasoned evaluators: Implications of systems approaches for evaluation practice. Evaluation, 23(2), 152-171.

Horton, D. (2018). SysCom Program Evaluation 2017.

Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Smith, R. D. (2017). Strategic planning for public relations. Routledge.

Vedung, E. (2017). Public policy and program evaluation. Routledge.