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
  • Engage Stakeholders 3
  • Revisit the Evaluation Purpose 4
  • Deine Your Target Audience 6
  • Types of Evaluation Reports 7
  • The Anatomy of a Report 10
  • 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
  • Checklist for Evaluation Reporting: A Guide to Help Ensure Use of Evaluation Findings 17

  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.