Easy steps on the path of continuous program improvement
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EmailIt is important to regularly evaluate our programs to ensure that they remain relevant and accessible. But where to start? Consider these simple prompts to keep your program on the path of continuous improvement.
Anyone in a program development role is familiar with this power couple: program planning and evaluation. is the process by which we gather and process information about how our programs are functioning. When considering program evaluation, the big question is: is our program doing what we intended it to do; are we achieving our goals?
We know that it’s important to evaluate our programs to confirm that we’re providing meaningful experiences, but, like any big question, it can be overwhelming to break that question down into manageable chunks. If you are not a trained researcher and instead find yourself on the frontline of youth development, managing a variety of deadlines and priorities, here is a basic evaluation framework to consider.
To begin, commit to an evaluation starting point. We often think of evaluation as something that happens when a program has ended, or, at the least, after the program starts. Consider incorporating evaluation into your earliest program planning steps. For each program you intend to facilitate, ask if that program:
- Listens to participants. Make youth voice a cornerstone principal of your program. Perhaps youth hold offices within a club or maybe they lead activities after school. Consider additional ways your program can utilize their input and expand their leadership skills.
- Creates a safe place for questions and feedback. It is important to talk to youth about their experiences in our programs, as outlined in “Youth Engagement in Research and Evaluation”, a guide published by the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent in partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We begin that process by building and supporting relationships to show youth that their opinions are wanted and valued. Maybe you regularly incorporate feedback and reflection time into meetings. Maybe you are focused on teambuilding activities to grow and strengthen the group’s shared identity and culture.
- Considers the abilities and circumstances of participants. Take steps to remove barriers, such as transportation and cost. Consider the visibility and navigability of your accommodation request process. Overall, take steps in the planning process to meet participants where they are.
- Takes risks and tries new things. Strong positive youth development programs support healthy risk taking in youth, and it is important for trusted adults to model that behavior.
When you evaluate your program in its planning stage, you create baseline data to compare against throughout the life of the program. Consider where you will store this early evaluation for planned check-ins. Consider additional evaluation at the midpoint of the program and again upon the program’s conclusion. The goal of program evaluation is to improve our programs, and ideally, we will make improvements as early and as often as possible.
These evaluation points were adapted from the 4-H Thriving Model.
Michigan State University Extension and Michigan 4-H Youth Development help to prepare young people for successful futures. To find out how to get involved as a youth participant or an adult volunteer, contact your county MSU Extension office.
