Step 6: Ensure Use and Share Lessons Learned
The
final step in program evaluation is to ensure the evaluation is used and to
share lessons learned. Here you can prepare the tangible products of evaluation
(recommendations and reports), share them with stakeholders and other
appropriate audiences and follow up to promote their use.
If you performed a process evaluation, make sure you use the results to improve
the program as it is implemented, and the next time it is offered. If you
received positive outcome evaluation results, share your successes widely.
If you didn't receive such positive results, look at your data to see if you can
figure out why. You may need to conduct further qualitative research to help
understand the results. Don't shy away from sharing those results with your
planning committee. They can provide important information you'll need to
improve the program, or help you see that you may need to stop the program
altogether. Either way, the information can contribute to the literature and
evidence base.
Tip
It's very important to learn from your evaluation results, even if they
aren't as positive as you hope. Use the results and future research to determine
what went wrong, and what might need to be changed or adapted. Or, you may find
that the program simply isn't working, even with adjustments. It may be
necessary to revisit the entire strategy, or let go of a program that isn't
successful.
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