Evaluation reporting: A guide to help ensure use of evaluation findings

This guide addresses the issue of ensuring that evaluation findings are used by stakeholders.

It guides readers through the process of creating effective evaluation reports, focusing on the key considerations that need to be taken into account, the essential elements of reports, the importance of dissemination, and offers tools and resources to help with this task. Although created with assist evaluators of heart disease and stroke prevention activities in mind, this guide will be useful for program managers, evaluators and other stakeholders who wish to identify appropriate evaluation products, effectively communicate findings, and find effective dissemination efforts.

Extract

"Importance of Evaluation Reporting to Ensure Use 

There are various aspects of evaluation reporting that can afect how information is used. Stakeholder needs, the evaluation purpose, and target audience should be considered when communicating results. Evaluation reporting should not only identify what, when, how, and to what extent information should be shared but take into account how information might be received and used. 

In a 2006 survey of American Evaluation Association members, 68% self-reported that their evaluation results were not used. Findings such as this suggest a greater need for evaluation results to make it of the bookshelf and into the hands of intended audiences. Similarly in the CDC Framework for Program Evaluation, the “utility evaluation standard” charges evaluators to carry out evaluations that lead to actionable indings for intended users. This commitment to conducting evaluations that improve the lives of participants serves as the inspiration for this guide." (CDC 2013, 2).

Contents

  • PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION GUIDES    1
  • INTRODUCTION    2
    • Importance of Evaluation Reporting to Ensure Use    2
  • KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR EFFECTIVELY REPORTING 
  • EVALUATION FINDINGS    3
    • Engage Stakeholders    3
    • Revisit the Evaluation Purpose    4
    • Deine Your Target Audience    6
  • MAKING EVALUATION REPORTS WORK FOR YOU    7
    • Types of Evaluation Reports    7
    • The Anatomy of a Report    10
  • KEEPING IT OFF THE BOOKSHELF— 
  • THE IMPORTANCE OF DISSEMINATION    13
    • Step 1: Create a Dissemination Plan    13
    • Step 2: Identify a Person to Oversee the Dissemination Plan    14
    • Step 3: Know the Current Landscape    14
    • Step 4: Consider the Timing and Frequency    14
    • Step 5: Stay Involved    14
  • CONCLUSION    15
  • RESOURCES    16
  • APPENDIX    17
    • Checklist for Evaluation Reporting: A Guide to Help Ensure Use of Evaluation Findings    17
  • REFERENCES    18

Sources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Evaluation Reporting: A Guide to Help Ensure Use of Evaluation Findings. Atlanta, GA: US Dept of Health and Human Services; 2013.

'Evaluation reporting: A guide to help ensure use of evaluation findings' is referenced in: