The Federal Evaluation ToolkitBETA

Program evaluation uses systematic data collection to help us understand whether programs, policies, or organizations are effective. This guide explains how program evaluation can contribute to improving program services. It provides a high-level, easy-to-read overview of program evaluation from start (planning and evaluation design) to finish (dissemination), and includes links to additional resources.

Building evidence is not one-size-fits all, and different questions require different methods and approaches. The Administration for Children & Families Common Framework for Research and Evaluation describes, in detail, six different types of research and evaluation approaches – foundational descriptive studies, exploratory descriptive studies, design and development studies, efficacy studies, effectiveness studies, and scale-up studies – and can help you understand which type of evaluation might be most useful for you and your information needs.

Use this worksheet to plan, draft, and finalize a strong evidence-building question. Broadly consider how the question relates to the purpose and relevance of the effort, types of evidence, methodology, and resources.

Evaluation questions guide the selection of your evaluation method, data collection tools, and data analyses. Use this checklist to convert your information needs into effective and appropriate evaluation questions and to assess their quality.

This slide show describes four steps to develop evaluation questions: create a logic model, define the evaluation purpose and scope, select the evaluation type, and produce evaluation questions. It includes exercises and templates for developing research questions for process, outcome, and impact evaluations.

Initiating an evaluation requires several key decisions. This resource lays out critical questions you have to answer around evaluation purpose and scope, stakeholder relationships, connecting evaluation activities and outcomes, evaluation goals, and evaluation plan and timeline to optimize front-end decision-making, and includes a sample evaluator information worksheet.