Getting Started with Evaluation

It is imperative to evaluate alcohol, other drug, and violence (AODV) prevention efforts to determine if they are achieving their anticipated goals. While getting started may seem a daunting task, an effective and feasible approach is viewing evaluation as an iterative process that is coupled with program development. This approach can make it easier for planners to be sure they are incorporating evaluation into every step of program implementation.

What Is Evaluation?

Evaluation is the process of assessing whether a particular prevention program or policy is implemented and working as intended, and it allows program planners to revise programs and policies as needed. Systematic evaluation is the process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting this assessment information in a proactive, planned way.

Evaluation should begin during program planning and implementation and continue through program completion. The five steps of a sound evaluation plan are:

1. Describing the intervention and creating a logic model. Logic models, an essential first step in evaluation, are diagrams that describe how and why program activities lead to program goals.
2. Identifying process measures to document the nature, extent, and quality of program implementation.
3. Identifying outcome measures to assess a program’s success in terms of short-term, intermediate, and long-term objectives.
4. Selecting a research design to outline when and where data will be collected to study the effect of the program.
5. Analyzing and reporting results of the evaluation to strengthen or improve the program and disseminate findings.

Why Evaluate?

The emphasis on evidence-based practices (EBP) in recent years requires programs to change and adapt over time. EBP involves both the use of strategies that have documented results and the inclusion of processes of data collection to assure fidelity of implementation and monitoring of outcomes. As a result, increasing emphasis is placed on evaluation.

Simply put, you should evaluate to know whether what you are doing is working as it is supposed to. Evaluation helps campuses and communities use their limited resources on effective programs and policies that work for their particular needs. Evaluation can show how a program activity leads to an intended outcome–or not–and evaluation findings allow planners to refine or modify their efforts.

Evaluating, and reporting evaluation results, also helps other campuses and communities know what works to address the particular AODV problems they are experiencing. Building on the experience of others helps campuses avoid investing in programs that don’t work and adapt programs that do work to their own environments. Finally, the Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Regulations, Part 86 of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), requires campuses to determine the effectiveness of their alcohol and other drug prevention programs every two years, and implement needed changes.

The time and money invested in sound, well-planned evaluation pays off in the long-run, ensuring you are using proven programs and policies to address your campus’s AODV prevention needs, saving valuable resources, and helping achieve program goals. Finally, evaluation helps you promote your program within your college and university and to others who may be interested in the work you are doing.