|
I am a program
coordinator who wants to conduct an evaluation of my program. Do you have
any suggestions about how I can find an evaluator?
Many program administrators think it is hard to find an evaluator, and
they hire the first one they contact. But a few simple tips can help you
find an experienced reliable evaluator:
-
Ask people in programs similar to yours if they can recommend
an evaluator with whom they have worked. Be sure to ask if there is
anyone they were dissatisfied with.
-
Go to the library or log on to the Internet and look up published
evaluation studies on programs like yours. Find out who wrote
them. If they are local, you might want to invite that evaluator to
apply for the position. If the researchers are not local, call them
and ask if they know of qualified evaluators in your area.
-
Ask your funders to help you identify a suitable evaluator.
They see many evaluation reports and probably know who is good. And
it makes sense to choose an evaluator whom your funder knows and respects.
-
Many contract research firms do evaluations—look them
up under "consultants" in the Yellow Pages. Call and invite
them to apply to evaluate your program; ask them to send you information
about their capabilities and experience. These firms may be less willing
to deal with very small studies and they may also be relatively expensive.
On the other hand, many of them do excellent work.
-
Be sure to check local colleges and universities for potential
evaluators. Call the psychology department, the sociology department,
and the education department for starters. Ask department secretaries
for the names of faculty who do evaluation research on programs similar
to yours.
- Look through agendas for conferences that are relevant to
your program. Find evaluators or researchers who presented papers or
conducted workshops. Give them a call and ask them to apply to evaluate
your program or to refer you to an evaluator. Ask them to send you the
conference paper they presented.
Related CAPT products:
-
CSAP’s Northeast CAPT also offers a training entitled "Locating, Hiring,
and Managing an Evaluator" that examines many aspects of
the evaluation process including those above. For more information
about this training view an on-line training description, contact
the Single State Agency in your state, or call CSAP’s Northeast
CAPT at 888-EDC-CAPT.
-
Visit our web site to view brief descriptions of select evaluation
groups in the northeast region. These can be accessed from our home
page at http://captus.samhsa.gov/northeast/northeast.cfm
by clicking on the appropriate state on the map.
Please contact the Northeast CAPT at captonline@edc.org
for more information.
|
