Modern Program Evaluation: A Catalyst for Successful Government Programs

Authors: Tony Diecidue and Shelley Rappaport

Overview

Since the 1960s, program evaluation of government programs in the United States has been a very fluid and dynamic field that has seen a proliferation of theorists and practitioners.  This began with the early traditional theorists of the 1960s who advocated rigorous scientific evaluation of government intervention programs established to solve social problems, such as the war on poverty, to determine what worked and what did not work.  Modern theorists since the 1990s have shifted their belief that evaluations should balance the need to demonstrate effectiveness with the knowledge about how to improve and strengthen a program, and should ultimately be judged by their utility and actual use.

In this white paper, the authors intend to assist the modern government program evaluation practitioner in understanding that program evaluation does not and should not be conducted in a limited evaluation framework.  There is more than one approach to program evaluation and the design should help to find a “better balance;” one which demonstrates a program or project’s effectiveness while also helping to understand how to improve and strengthen it.  This paper describes ideas and considerations to help drive government program evaluators toward facilitating positive and proactive program management, change, and success.  In this regard, this paper promotes and advocates the credibility of evaluations beyond being just a “ritual,” or worse, being ignored or perceived of little value or use by decision makers, policy advisors, and managers.

Read more here.

Contact Information

Tony Diecidue
Project Performance Corporation
703-748-7000
tdiecidue@ppc.com

Shelley Rappaport
Project Performance Corporation
703-748-7000
srappaport@ppc.com