Program Evaluation Resources

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This page provides information and links to other resources that will help you design and evaluate educational programs. If you need quick help developing a program evaluation, start by viewing these two documents:

Fact Sheets

These Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) fact sheets are available to help you evaluate your programs. The PDF files can be downloaded and viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Self-Assessment Tools

  • Criteria for Assessing the Value of a Cooperative Extension Program (15k PDF)
    This simple evaluation tool can help with the decision-making process. A rating sheet containing 25 "Criteria For Assessing The Value Of A Cooperative Extension Program" can be given to a representative group of advisory committee members (or sample of program clientele or other stakeholders). They can use the tool to rate individual programs and help prioritize the ones that should receive the most attention by the agent and others who fund and manage them. The advisory group needs to know in advance that the outcome must be choosing to offer the strongest current or potential programs.

  • How Effective is Your 4-H Club? A Checklist for Success (57k PDF)
    This information sheet is included in the NJ 4-H Leader Training Series, a publication used for training volunteers. The evaluation tool is in the form of a Yes-No checklist that can be used by youth (as well as parents or group leaders) to assess the quality of their club experience. Even though it was designed for 4-H clubs, it can apply to or be easily adapted for use with other youth groups.

Evaluating Educational Materials

Pilot testing is a useful evaluation process that can be done before the decision to adopt or produce educational materials for widespread use is made. By adequately pilot testing a publication with potential users of the curriculum, the investment in the publication can be justified. In addition, feedback received can be used to modify a publication being developed or to produce or purchase more effective curricula in the future. Below, you will find information about pilot test forms and pilot testing procedures.

Evaluating Teaching

In non-formal education such as Cooperative Extension, evaluating programs often includes evaluating teaching. Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension faculty and professional staff are expected to regularly evaluate programs they teach. (Untenured "junior" faculty are particularly urged to evaluate their teaching performance.) There are three official forms used to evaluate teaching in a variety of settings. Choose the most appropriate one based on the audience taught:

  1. Cooperative Extension Instruction Evaluation
    This form is machine-graded and similar to ones used in university classrooms with credit courses. It is intended for adults and high school youth. Copies can be obtained from your department chair, to whom completed forms are returned for computer grading by the university.

  2. Program Evaluation for Youth Audiences
    There are two teaching evaluation forms for youth audiences. You can download the Instructions for Administration of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Program Evaluation for Youth Audiences (60k PDF).

    1. Rutgers Cooperative Extension Program Evaluation - Youth Audience (43k PDF)
      This form is aimed at youth in grades K-3. A Word version (22k) can be used to adapt for other purposes. However, this is discouraged because only the posted PDF version is can be considered an "official" NJAES teaching evaluation form.

      Excel Worksheet for Summarizing Results from K-3 Youth Program Evaluation Form (28k Excel file)
      This Excel worksheet is for entering data and calculating results from the K-3 Youth Audience version of the Program Evaluation (teaching evaluation) form ONLY. After you download the file, save a blank version of this worksheet and use a new one for each session taught. (Be sure to use the most recent version.) Up to 100 students can be entered for a session. After data are entered, results are calculated automatically. Directions are included in the worksheet.
    2. Rutgers Cooperative Extension Program Evaluation - Older Youth Audience (46k PDF)
      This form is aimed at youth in grades 4 and higher. A Word version (22k) can be used to adapt for other purposes. However, this is discouraged because only the posted PDF version is can be considered an "official" NJAES teaching evaluation form.

      Excel Worksheet for Summarizing Results from Older Youth Program Evaluation Form (28k Excel file)
      This Excel worksheet is for entering data and calculating results from the Older Youth Audience version of the NJAES Program Evaluation (teaching evaluation) form ONLY. After you download the file, save a blank version of this worksheet and use a new one for each session taught. (Be sure to use the most recent version.) Up to 100 students can be entered for a session. After data are entered, results are calculated automatically. Directions are included in the worksheet.

      To view the worksheet with a sample (61k PDF) of data, download this PDF file.

      To view a sample report (59k PDF) with the results from the example worksheet with sample data, download this PDF file.
    3. To summarize evaluation COMMENTS, use this format (24k Word document). View a sample (44k PDF).

Samples of Surveys & Related Evaluation Tools
(conducted via mail, telephone, personal interview & web)

Surveys of Adults/Staff

Surveys of Youth/Children

Surveys of Public

Regulations Concerning Research and Evaluation with Human Subjects

Here is an overview of regulations affecting Rutgers Cooperative Extension program evaluation and research with human subjects:
This site contains all the necessary details and forms to obtain approval to conduct research with human subjects at Rutgers:

Other Resources & Web Links

Southern Region Evaluation Site
www.ca.uky.edu/agpsd/soregion.htm

If you are looking for straight-forward information and procedures for evaluating your Extension programs, consider visiting and bookmarking this URL. Although the site is a collaborative project of the Program and Staff Development Committee of the southern region, it provides links to a variety of evaluation-oriented Extension web sites and fact sheets from throughout the country (including N.J.). Most of these provide direct links to downloads of simple and easy-to-follow Extension documents in PDF format.

Here is a sampling of topics related to program evaluation that you will find by visiting the site:
  • Measuring Impact of Educational Programs
  • Choosing Appropriate Research Methods to Evaluate Educational Programs
  • Developing Cost and Benefit Estimates
  • Questionnaire Design: Asking Questions with a Purpose
  • Analyzing and Interpreting Program Results
  • Collecting Information on Program Results
  • Using Focus Groups for Evaluation
  • The Use of Portfolio Assessment in Evaluation
  • The Use of Qualitative Interviews in Evaluation
  • Using Existing Records in Evaluation
  • Using End-of-Meeting Questionnaires to Assess KOSA Change
  • Practical Strategies for Assessing Practice Change
  • Using Non-Participant Observers to Assess Program Impact
  • Planning a Program Evaluation
  • Questionnaire Design: Asking Questions with a Purpose
  • Sampling
  • Collecting Evaluation Data: Direct Observation
  • Analyzing Qualitative Data
  • Writing Program Success Stories
The Penn State Cooperative Extension Program Evaluation Site
www.extension.psu.edu/evaluation

The site is rich in practical ideas that faculty and county educators can use when conducting evaluations of their programs. The site features three components:
  • Evaluation Tipsheets
    More than 60 TIPSHEETS contain helpful, easy-to-read information about designing a practical evaluation from beginning to end, from selecting a program worth evaluating to writing impact statements.
  • Examples from Pennsylvania
    These examples show how to evaluate extension programs and delivery methods through focus groups, postcards, experiential activities, surveys, and other techniques. Each example includes a complete evaluation with objectives and practical procedures to implement, including letters and sampling techniques. Faculty and agents can easily apply all or part of each example to any extension program.
  • Other Resources
    Links to other evaluation Web sites and references to related print materials at university libraries. All have been recently reviewed to ensure their usefulness for extension educators.

"Evaluation Logic Model" - University of Wisconsin Extension Program Development and Evaluation
www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/evaluation/evallogicmodel.html

The logic model displays the sequence of actions that describe what a program is and will do – how investments link to results. It includes 5 core components in this depiction of the program action:

  1. INPUTS: resources, contributions, investments that go into the program
  2. OUTPUTS: activities, services, events and products that reach people who participate or who are targeted
  3. OUTCOMES: results or changes for individuals, groups, communities, organizations, communities, or systems
  4. Assumptions: the beliefs we have about the program, the people involved, and the context and the way we think the program will work.
  5. External Factors: the environment in which the program exists includes a variety of external factors that interact with and influence the program action.

Here are two documents that employ the Logic Model for program planning:

  • Planning Worksheet (49k Word document) (developed for 4-H program planning but can be easily adapted for other departments/programs)
  • Example of completed Planning Worksheet (133k PDF)

"Targeting Life Skills" Model - Iowa State University Extension
www.extension.iastate.edu/4H/lifeskills/homepage.html

Provides a model and evaluation methods for incorporating developmentally appropriate learning opportunities to assess impact of life skill development with youth audiences.

Ohio State University Extension Program Development & Evaluation
www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~pde/index.html

Resources for Extension professionals to develop effective educational programs and program evaluations that are useful, feasible, accurate, and conducted with propriety. Includes a program development logic model and links to other evaluation resources.

Four-Fold Youth Development Model
www.four-h.purdue.edu/fourfold

Developed by Purdue University and The Ohio State University, this provides a model for the design and evaluation of youth development curriculum and programs. The site provides evaluation instruments and data analysis services to help measure the impact of youth development programs. It also features a comparison of other prominent youth development models, including Search Institute's Assets, Iowa State's Targeting Life Skills, SCANS Workforce Preparation Competencies, and NNST Science Process Skills.

This page maintained by Lydia B. Blalock, Ph.D. Extension Specialist in Youth Development
Created by Keith G. Diem, Ph.D., Program Leader in Educational Design, 2001-2004

Useful Links

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