Evaluation, or assessment, is the process by which you determine the degree to which your goals and objectives are being achieved. Most funding agencies require an evaluation; many give it major importance. The evaluation leads naturally to the report that you prepare at the end of the project to submit to the supporting agency.
The evaluation section is an integral part of a grant proposal. It contains the plan that spells out in advance how you will know that you have accomplished what you have said you would. It describes how you will prove to the funding agency that they have received their money's worth from the award and that you have used their money to benefit the common good.
On the practical side, your plan for evaluation serves you as a ready guide for monitoring what is actually happening as a result of the activities you are engaging in.
The evaluation section of your proposal describes clearly and specifically how evaluative data will be collected at every stage of the project. It spells out how you will determine where things are prior to putting your project into action, that is, the means for gathering baseline data, so that you have a way of proving success by comparison. It specifies how you will gather information along the way and also at the end of the project. The evaluation plan tells who will be doing the appraisals, how they will be selected, and with what instruments and procedures they will be conducting their appraisals. It describes clearly and specifically how evaluative data will be collected at every stage of data gathering. It also indicates how you will analyze the data, how it will be used for improvement, and how the results will be disseminated.
Your evaluation plan should also indicate the kind of report you will be submitting to the funding agency at the end of your project. The report will, of course, summarize activities (strategies) and demonstrate their degree of success in view of the goals and objectives and why this is so. If you have deviated from your initial project, as often happens, you should explain clearly and explicitly your reasons for having done so.
At all points, be sure to stress the positive aspects of your work. While, for example, having to depart from your plan was not foreseen, things worked out well anyway. You observed certain behaviors that resulted in your gaining valuable information. The digressions proved to be significant in your work for reasons that you specify.
Why Is Devoting so Much Attention to the Evaluation Portion of the Proposal so Important?
There are a number of reasons for thinking through carefully and then outlining in detail your assessment methods, in addition to the obvious one that well-written evaluation procedures increase your chances of being successful.
Thinking through carefully and then writing down assessment procedures in a clear, comprehensible fashion force you to sharpen your goals and objectives. Are they clear? Are they indeed measurable? Can they be achieved? Can they be achieved within the time-frame you have set for yourself? Finally, and most important of all, are they worth achieving?
Planning for the evaluation makes you more cost-conscious. You must always be aware of the money aspect, because the funding agency will be. Spelling out assessment methods can help you make economies in your program by forcing you to examine costs and benefits.
The evaluation section serves as a blueprint throughout the project. It keeps you focused and redirects your efforts toward the desired outcomes.
Your evaluation provides data for future projects you or someone else might carry out.
A sound, carefully implemented evaluation with activities that are well reported increases your chances for future funding.
A carefully devised, well-reported evaluation can be a valuable public-relations tool, both for the agency and for the University.
Your evaluation procedures and report can provide colleagues in your discipline with useful touchstones for writing, evaluating, and reporting on proposals and can help them anticipate problems in their own research.
As an additional practical matter, if you have solid assessment procedures built into your proposal, the funding agency is less likely to conduct its own evaluation, which may occur in ways for which you are unprepared and with which you might not totally agree.
A well-prepared evaluation plan gives procedures for measuring both the methods (formative assessment) of carrying out the project and the outcomes (summative assessment) of the project. The two of necessity work together. Evaluative documentation gathered during the project makes it easier to determine whether or not the intended project destination has been reached.
Examines the results of the program to determine whether or not it has achieved the stated goals and objectives and whether or not these achievements can be attributed to the program.
The evaluation portion of the proposal should specify who will be conducting the assessment. The appraisal may be carried out by someone involved in the implementation of the plan or by someone brought in from the profession at large. There are advantages and disadvantages to both avenues of evaluation.
On the one hand, the inside evaluator:
Has greater knowledge of the project.
Probably costs less.
Is probably better able to conduct the formative portion of the evaluation.
Is anyone on the staff competent to carry out an evaluation, particularly the summative one?
Would an inside evaluator have the time to do the job well?
Can the inside evaluator proceed without prejudice? Might this person be more greatly influenced by the effect that a positive evaluation will have on staff morale, the project reputation, and the possibilities of future funding for the director, for EMU, and for the evaluator?
Will other members of the staff feel threatened if one or two are singled out for this task? Will they give honest answers to questions of evaluation?
Because you are so focused on achieving the goal and designing the methods by which you will achieve that goal, and thus solve the problem, it is easy to treat the evaluation section offhandedly or fail to give it the careful attention it deserves.
Be exact. Don't employ vague statements about assessment, like "The evaluation will take place at weekly team conferences," or "Clear, comprehensive records and documentation will be maintained."
Beware of falling into the "let Mary do it" syndrome: "Professor-has-won-every-award-in-the-world will design appropriate measures."
Don't be absurdly evasive: "The evaluation consists of an ongoing review of data derived from the survey obtained at the initial interview so that both client and program needs may be determined and addressed." Wow! All those words, and they say absolutely nothing that will encourage a funding agency to entrust their money to you.
Evaluation design flows logically from the program goals and objectives. Your project intends to produce change. Show how things were before you began your project. Indicate to what extent change took place. You do this through the procedures in your well-designed plan of evaluation.
Since the evaluation leads naturally into the project report, that, too, should be considered in conjunction with preparing the evaluation plan. You may now want to turn to the section of this handbook onReporting Your Success: Tell the World How Good You Are
