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Research has clearly established the effectiveness of Big Brothers Big Sisters programs and Boys and Girls Clubs in creating positive outcomes for young people. But how can you be sure that your program produces the same kinds of results? The best way is to routinely carry out evaluations of your program.
Some of the first steps in evaluating your program are to define what factors indicate that it is successful, and to determine which indicators of success you will track. What, specifically, are you going to evaluate? For example, will you evaluate the cost of your program, the numbers of children and youth served by your program, changes in children’s self-esteem levels, improvements in school performance…?
You will then need to decide what forms of evaluation your program should carry out. There are several types of evaluation that your program could undertake, each of which measures a different aspect of your program’s success. For instance, there are input evaluations, which measure the resources that go into operating your program. Output evaluations measure the amount that your program produces. Outcome evaluations measure the actual changes in behavior, attitudes, knowledge or skills that your program creates for its participants.
You will also have to determine who will conduct the evaluations, and how they will collect the data. Will staff collect the information using interviews and questionnaires, or will a local college professor design and implement pre- and post-tests (i.e., tests given prior to program involvement and after program involvement), for instance?
Finally, you must think about how you will analyze, report and use the evaluation results40.
You will find that the benefits of conducting program evaluations are well worth the effort. In fact, your program’s supporters are likely to expect you to demonstrate the effectiveness of your services. Furthermore, the results of your evaluations can be used to improve your program, promote it, and plan for its future.
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