Program evaluation

Your agency launches a new teen substance-abuse program. Is it needed? Is it working while it runs? Did it actually help by the end? Those three questions map onto the whole logic of program evaluation — the systematic collection of information about a program to make decisions and improve services.

It usually starts with a needs assessment: before you build anything, you gather data to document the gap between the current situation and desired outcomes — who needs the service, and what exactly do they need? Then comes the classic distinction examiners hammer: formative vs. summative evaluation. Formative evaluation happens during the program, while it's still being developed or delivered, to give feedback and improve it in real time (think of a chef tasting the soup as it cooks). Summative evaluation happens at the end to judge the program's overall worth, effectiveness, and outcomes — should we keep it, expand it, or cut it (the dinner guests tasting the finished soup)?

Outcome measurement is how you demonstrate results — measuring whether the program actually achieved its intended goals and produced change in participants (distinct from process measures that track how the program was delivered). Good outcome evaluation ties back to clearly defined, measurable objectives set at the start.

Clinical Pearl: Don't mix up the timing — formative = during, to improve; summative = at the end, to judge. The mnemonic: formative helps you form it; summative sums it up. Program evaluation typically begins with a needs assessment and proves its value through outcome measurement.