Program Theory and Theory Driven Evaluation

The difference between “Magic” (I mean, Logic) Models and Theories of Change by Sara Vaca

Dear AEA365 readers, hi! I’m Sara Vaca, independent consultant and frequent Saturday contributor to this blog. I feel so lucky as I’m in the middle of a new assignment as facilitator to develop Theories of Change (ToCs): my first long ToC assignment was in 2017 for UNICEF Indonesia. And now I am working with the …

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Refining Theories of Change by Sara Vaca and Lovely Dhillon

Hi, I am Sara Vaca (Independent Evaluator and Saturday’s contributor to this blog), and today I am sharing part of the work Lovely Dhillon (Jodevi Consulting) and I have been doing on regarding Theories of Change. Since Theories of Change (ToCs) are having a lot of attention lately, we wanted to share our learning and …

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MNEA Week: Melissa Chapman Haynes on Program Evaluation Standards

Hello! I am Dr. Melissa Chapman Haynes, and I am a Senior Evaluator with Professional Data Analysts, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In this post, I propose that the Program Evaluation Standards (PgES) is a fundamental tool that can help us reflect on the values we bring to our evaluation practice. The five standards, all of …

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Diane O. Dunet on Writing an Evaluation Purpose Statement

My name is Diane Dunet and I am a senior evaluator on the Evaluation and Program Effectiveness Team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. Our team members use a written purpose statement for our program evaluations. In strategic planning, a mission statement serves as a touchstone …

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VSA Week: Carey Tisdal on Practical Applications of Theory

Hi! I’m Carey Tisdal, Director of Tisdal Consulting, an independent firm that evaluates informal learning environments. Informal learning environments include museums (art, history, science, and children’s museums), science-technology centers, zoos, aquaria, parks, television, and radio. I worked as an internal evaluator for nine years and for six as an external evaluator. Recently, field-building and professional …

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E. Jane Davidson on Evaluative Rubrics

My name is Jane Davidson and I run an evaluation consulting business called Real Evaluation Ltd. In my work, I advise and support organizations on strategic evaluation; provide evaluation capacity building and professional development; develop tools and templates to help organizations conduct, interpret, and use evaluations themselves; and conduct independent and collaborative evaluations and meta-evaluations. …

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Christopher Moore on Structural Equation Modeling for Theory-Driven Evaluation

Hi, my name is Christopher Moore.  I am a doctoral student in Quantitative Methods in Education at the University of Minnesota and a Quantitative Analyst at the Minnesota Department of Education.  My interests include preventing educational and health disparities, latent variable models, spatial statistical methods, and causal theory and inference. Hot Tip: So you’re conducting …

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Glenn O’Neil on Evaluating Communications Programs Using ToC

Hello, I am Glenn O’Neil and specialize in evaluating communication programs and campaigns with my own company, Owl RE. My post today is about how to use the theory of change in evaluating communication programs. Hot tip: there is nothing so practical as a theory of change! The theory of change maps out from activities to …

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