INSTRUCTIONS
Program Evaluation Plan Part 3: Communicating Results
For the course project, you have been assuming the role of a consultant who has been hired to develop a plan for an evaluation of a clinical mental health counseling program. Remember, you are creating a fictitious but plausible program with hypothetical stakeholders, clients, interventions, and measures. The purpose of the proposed evaluation is to guide program improvements and document progress toward the program’s mission and goals. This program is named Operation Second Chance and is a Veteran Drug Court Program.
For this final assignment, complete your evaluation plan with recommendations for how the program could be improved and research in counseling could be advanced in the future. You should synthesize your recommendations and requirements for the program evaluation you are proposing and describe how you will present and disseminate the findings of your evaluation.
Requirements
To achieve a successful project experience and outcome, you must include the following sections for Part 3:
- Title Page.
- Communicating Results to Counselors and Colleagues (at least one page).
- Communicating Results to Stakeholders (at least one page).
- Ethical and Cultural Considerations When Communicating Results (at least one page).
- Using Results to Improve the Program (at least one page).
- Using Results to Advance the Counseling Field (at least one page).
- References.
Additionally, your paper must:
- Be a total of 7 pages of text (excluding the title page and the references page).
- Include scholarly references to support your ideas about research on the kind of program you are evaluating (population, clinical focus, counseling approach), and program evaluation procedures (program evaluation model, needs assessment, ethical and cultural considerations).
- Illustrates how data and results obtained from evaluation findings (technical reports, fact sheets, charts, et cetera) could be used to increase the effectiveness of counseling interventions and programs with strong examples.
- Based on the evaluation results and conclusions of the hypothetical report, creates plans for collaborating with other human services providers and intended users.
- Applies culturally sensitive strategies for reporting the results of a program evaluation.(Military Culture)
- Recommends ways the program evaluation could be used to inform evidence-based practice and advance the counseling profession.
Program Evaluation Plan Part 3: Communicating Results
[Author First Name MI. Last Name]
[COURSE NUMBER & NAME]
[Date]
University
Program Evaluation Plan Part 3: Communicating Results
This is your paper’s introduction (one paragraph). An effective introduction prepares the reader by identifying the purpose of the paper and providing the organization of the paper. Note, however, that this paragraph does not have a heading; its position at the beginning of the body of the paper indicates that it is the introduction. Instead, include the title of your paper centered at the top of the page, not bolded. In the body of your paper, indent the first line of each paragraph. Double space throughout (with no extra spaces between paragraphs) and use 12-point Times New Roman. For the purposes of this assignment, simply replace this text with a brief paragraph in your own words stating what this paper will cover, thus cuing the reader as to what will follow.
Communicating Results to Counselors and Colleagues
In this paragraph, describe how results of your data analysis could be presented and shared with the counselors and colleagues in the program. Illustrate your hypothetical results by including tables or figures that could convey a few of your findings. Use guidelines presented in the course for how results can be communicated clearly and concisely. This section should be approximately two pages.
Communicating Results to Stakeholders
Here, describe how the results of the evaluation would be presented to stakeholders. Describe how you would manage communicating your results to various constituencies, such as board members, community leaders, managers, and grantors. Discuss how these constituencies might have competing interests and how that would impact how you convey information such as needs for improvement in the program or its delivery. Consult the resources in your courseroom and textbook for guidelines on how this should be done. This section will be approximately one page.
Ethical and Cultural Considerations When Communicating Results
Describe how counselors must be aware of the impact of their findings on various cultural groups. Then, specifically illustrate how this consideration would be taken into account in your communication of results. Additionally, describe the ethics of reporting results and how you will apply these standards when communicating your findings. Refer to specific ethical or program evaluation standards to support your plan. This section will be approximately one page in length.
Using Results to Improve the Program
Present several ways in which the results of your hypothetical evaluation will be useful for refining and improving the program, based on the results of your qualitative and quantitative analyses. For example, your client satisfaction survey may reveal that certain changes would greatly improve their likelihood of completing treatment. Your quantitative data analysis may indicate that men are benefitting from the program but women are not, so additional research needs to be done to determine how counselors could be more effective with women. Make recommendations for changes that should be considered, based on the results of your evaluation. This section will be approximately two pages.
Using Results to Advance the Counseling Field
Describe how results from this evaluation will inform the counseling field. Remind the reader of the gaps that you uncovered in your literature review on similar programs. Does your hypothetical program evaluation offer evidence that support a new treatment, intervention, or application of an established treatment with a new population? Offer ideas for how your results and findings could be disseminated to others in your state, region, or in the field in general, such as those described in Unit 10. Integrate your view of how applied research and program review informs evidence-based practice in counseling. This section will be approximately one page in length.
References
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume # (issue #), xx–xx.
Royse, D., Thyer, B. A., & Padgett, D. K. (2010). Program evaluation: An introduction (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.