The program proposed to Klasky is intended to provide the served community with Day Camp services for elementary school children. The evaluation design is process evaluation, which is applied to assess the quality of program implementation soon after the program started. This evaluation of the program evaluates the effects of day camp program on elementary school children, on teachers, and whether the program is carried out according to the plan. These goals are important because they indicate if the program is effective and if its goals and objectives can be achieved as scheduled; it determines whether corrections are required. The following stakeholders are involved: IslandWood’s Board of Directors, clients constituted of elementary school children of the Seattle area and the principals and teachers of these schools, and staff involved in the implementation of the program (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2017). The program evaluation questions are created based on the interests of the main stakeholders:
- How does the program impact children from elementary schools?
- How is the program perceived by the teachers and trainers involved in implementing the Day Camp program?
- Are the steps of the program implemented according to the plan?
Since the program is planned to be implemented within one year, it is reasonable to carry out this evaluation six months into the process. It will allow for identifying the level of the program’s effectiveness and efficiency. Firstly, the program is designed to improve elementary school children’s social skills, self-discipline, and physical development. In order to determine whether these objectives are met, before and after six months of program surveys will be carried out among children. Also, the SWOT analysis will be applied to identify the areas for improvement, and interviews with the teachers from the elementary schools will be conducted to encourage teachers’ feedback on students’ outcomes. Secondly, to identify the effects of the program on the staff involved, personal interviews and questionnaires will be applied. Finally, to evaluate if the program is implemented according to the plan and if the resources are used as scheduled, the analysis of monthly reports and surveys with the program staff will be required.
The results of these data-collecting procedures will be processed by a program manager and reported to the Board of Directors. The evaluation of the Day Camp program’s achieved results in the sixth month of the implementation will allow for making necessary corrections. In the case of identifying the inconsistency in the interpreted evaluation results as per children-oriented goals, necessary changes to the program activities will be introduced. In the case of detecting the staff’s dissatisfaction with the results of the program, relevant adjustments will be provided. Finally, if the utilization of time and resources will not comply with the plan, the plan and schedule will be revised and corrected.
The chosen program evaluation design allows for collecting credible evidence from key stakeholders and reporting them to the Board of Directors in a timely manner. The chosen data collection methods and approaches to their interpretation ensure efficient usage of resources. Thus, the evaluation design of process evaluation targets the interests of the key stakeholders and allows for correcting and adjusting the program implementation on a semi-completed stage. The lessons learned from the evaluation will be applied for the improvement of the program to achieve the intended goals.
Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). A framework for program evaluation. Web.