Program Evaluation

Evaluation Focus

The PRC Program’s evaluation focuses on assessing its national program. Initial activities involved engaging stakeholders, evaluation planning, developing a PRC national logic model (Anderson and others, 2006), and documenting retrospective program activities (Franks and others, 2005); Franks and others,* 2006). The national evaluation implementation is guided by the national logic model and has two main purposes:

• Ensure accountability to stakeholders.
• Facilitate program improvement.

Overarching evaluation questions are as follows:

What does the PRC program contribute to public health practice and policy —

• by conducting prevention research to develop and disseminate effective and translatable public health interventions?
• by training the public health workforce?

How is community-based participatory research implemented across PRCs?

• How are communities and partners engaged in PRCs' activities and how does participation build community capacity?

What are the similarities and differences across PRCs concerning infrastructure, organizational factors, and how PRCs partner with communities and organizations?

Evaluation Design

Quantitative Indicators: The PRC Program indicators collect quantitative data that can be summarized across PRCs and over time. The indicators provide information on the program's depth and scope.

Qualitative Studies: The qualitative studies provide information on components of the PRCs’ work that cannot be captured by quantitative indicators. These studies answer several of the following evaluation questions:

• How do PRC researchers and their communities interact to develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a core prevention research project? (i.e., What are the approaches to community-based participatory research?)
• What are the characteristics of PRCs related to staff, partnering communities, organizational and partnership structures, resources, leadership, and institutional environment?
• What is the variety of the PRC's core prevention research, including goals and contextual factors?
• What is the diversity of PRC training, technical assistance, and mentoring with communities and partners?

As recommended by CDC’s Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health, the PRC national evaluation recognizes the needs and benefits and necessity of involving all project stakeholders. This ensures that diverse perspectives are integrated into the evaluation design, interpretation of findings, and dissemination of results.

Evaluation Findings

Evaluation results will be disseminated to PRC Program stakeholders and made available on this Web site.

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