Kapp and Anderson identify 4 aspects to assess when planning for the utilization of evaluation information. Explain all 4 aspects, including questions to ask and examples.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The 4 factors are: (1) Past track record: Has an evaluation been completed previously and how was it received? Did it influence practice in any way? How? Who was involved and in what ways? If the evaluation was not utilized, try to find out more about its lack of use by asking agency personnel. For example, why do they think the information was not used, and what do they perceive as significant barriers? Get different opinions about this topic from a number of different individuals with different organizational histories, based on their tenure and position. For example, direct service staff will have different ideas about this process than program managers whose ideas are likely to differ from the executive leadership. (2) Staff point of view: Are current staff open to evaluation activity? Do they have questions on the current approach to service delivery or are things acceptable to them? For example, the evaluation may identify which program components are being fully implemented, or the emphasis may be more related to the factors that seem to contribute to service recipients’ successful community integration. It is useful to describe the evaluation process to staff and help them understand which types of decisions may be influenced. (3) Leadership style: Does the agency leadership seem to be open to evaluation? Do they often ask questions that may imply openness to evaluation, such as “How can we improve this?” Consider the way that leaders pursue change in the organization: How do the key leaders in the organization pursue the kind of change that may be necessary to use evaluation findings to improve programs? Is it more participatory or would it be best described as autocratic? How do you find ways to support them in evaluation-driven change activity? What factors seemed to have been useful in getting their support with various organizational initiatives and decisions? (4) Organizational culture: Is this agency open to examining the way services are delivered or is the status q uo acceptable? Leadership can have a significant impact on organizational culture. If an organization is more interested in maintaining the status quo and controlling the operation, it is more difficult to find ways to get the evaluation findings into the conversation. In this type of an organizational environment, the importance of advocating for the use of evaluation findings is oftentimes extremely critical. Under these circumstances, the need to create a venue for the serious consideration of evaluation findings is imperative.