In this essay and several to follow, I review a series of appreciative concepts and tools that can reduce this threat by making the evaluative process clearer and more supportive. We will also identify feedback strategies that enable the program evaluation process to actually be pleasant and constructive. Effective program evaluation is a process that can be uncomfortable, for all growth and change involve some pain. Program evaluation, however, can be constructive. Furthermore, if it is appreciative, this evaluation process can meet the needs of both those who are serving and those who are being served by the program.
[Note: This section of Essay XII and the following essay (XIII) in this series are based on a document I prepared in the early 1980s for the evaluation of a major higher education program that had received substantial funding from a large American foundation. These essays were later revised so that they might relate to a broader range of programs. I had intended to update these essays—but found that they held up very well over the many years. I decide to publish these essays as part of the Closely-Held Enterprise series as they were originally written. I hope you find them to be of relevance in your own work with entrepreneurs.]
History of Program Evaluation
First, a brief excursion through the history of program evaluation and, in particular, through the major issues regarding the purposes that program evaluation serves and the various forms that program evaluation takes in serving these purposes. Probably the most important fact to keep in mind is that program evaluation is not commonly used in most sectors of contemporary society. Much of the work done in this area is confined to educational and human service programs and, in particular, to the evaluation of programs for funding purposes or for continuing accreditation or authorization.
Many of the advanced in evaluation have been made by members of or consultants to major philanthropic foundations (such as the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Lilly Endowment) or the United States Federal government who are asked to determine the worth of a program that has been funded or may be funded by their institution. Other advances have been made by those given the task to determine if a school or college should be granted a specific accreditation status.
Program evaluation has also been widely used in the sciences, criminal justice, medicine and social welfare, once again often associated with the assessment of program worth by governmental funding agencies. Following Sputnik, increasing attention was given to the achievements of American research initiatives, while attention also increased with regard to the success of heavily-funded social programs under the banners of “The Great Society” and “War on Poverty.”
