Forum 5 – Evaluations – Joslyn Hamby-King
Good Morning, Professor Nissa and Fellow Classmates:
The three basic types of evaluation in Family Life Education is the assessing needs and assets evaluation which is the most important stage of the evaluation because involves identifying a plan as to what will be needed in order to reach the goal or program to be set in place after the evaluation is completed. The evaluation is a process vice an event; the formative evaluation generates information with the purpose to plan, monitor, and improve programs which is also referred to as process evaluations. Formative evaluations describe a program and provide feedback as to how the program is working by using surveys midway through the program in order to view if the program is working and to identify if the information needs to be retaught or reinforced and the summative evaluation sometimes referred to as the outcome evaluation which is viewing the end result of a program such as how is the program working; are the goals being met and if not determining if the program should be expanded, copied or removed. (Darling, Cassidy, & Powell, 2014, pp. 155-156). Basically establishing a programs worth by focusing on the outcome.
The formative assessment goal is to gather feedback that can be used by the family life educator as a guide improvements in the ongoing teaching and learning context. Summative assessment is to measure the level of success that has been obtained after improvements have been identified and used. (Author unknown, 2016).
The program I will use as an example would be marriage enrichment program. The program will meet twice a month, biweekly for 2 hours, and for one year. Initially using the needs and assets assessing evaluation I would complete a mini study on who my target audience would be (how many married couples are in the area – identify my target audience), what resources are available such as are there churches offering martial counseling or retreats that perhaps I could partner with or expand on what is being done already also ensuring if there is a need for this program and will the community support this program.
Once the program is established I would introduce the formative evaluation stage by submitting surveys for the participants’ midway through the program to ensure there aren’t any problems that may hinder the participants’ participation in the program such as work hours or babysitting issues, material to vague, material to overwhelming, or class too condensed to cover the amount of material submitted. The main goal being that everyone leaves the program with a better understanding on how to have a successful marriage.
The summative evaluation will be the participants completing an interview to determine if the information provided to them will assist them in their marriage relationship. Do you feel closer as a couple? How will they incorporate some of the ideas/suggestions in their lives? I would use the information gathered through the interviews to view if any improvements are needed for future programs. The main objective being stronger marriages incorporate stronger families in our community which will alleviate numerous social problems we face in our community.
Joslyn
References
Author unknown (2016). Formative vs Summative Assessment. p. 1. Retrieved from
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/asssessment/how/to/basicsformative-summative.html
Darling, C. A., Cassidy, D., & Powell, L. (2014). Family Life Education. Working with Families
Across the Lifespan. (3rd. ed.). pp. 156-157. Waveland Press, Inc.
Second response:
Shock / Week 5 Forum / Evaluation
I think my area would benefit from a variety of different Family Life Education Programs. For this assignment I would like to focus on Family Resource Management. A program such as this would be beneficial for many families in this area because it helps to improve the quality of life by not only addressing personal financial needs, but also helping the family to achieve their goals by improving relationships, addressing educational needs and would assist in implementing strategies to manage, money and time, just to name a few (NMSU, 2016). In planning this program, I would have to use the three basic type of evaluation, starting with Assessing Needs and Assets. This is done first to determine if there truly is a need for this program (Darling et al., 2014). Looking at the demographics for this area helps to assist me in determining a program such as this would be beneficial and that my target audience would be those who are at or falling into the poverty level. In assessing needs and assets, I would also have to see what resources are available in this area (Darling et al., 2014). There are many programs that assist families in this area, such as a food stamp program, WIC, energy assistance, rental assistance, medical assistance etc. I would also have to determine if the community would support and benefit from this program and what the actual goal of the program is (Darling et al., 2014). The goal would be to not just use the resources of the community as a hand out, but to use it to assist while implementing strategies that families can use to manage their households successfully on their own. Seeing the lines at the food pantries and the number of homeless in the area, I feel the community would support such a program as it will help to strengthen the community as a whole.
I would also have Formative Evaluations, which are done while the families are still in the program and would let me know if my program is on track or if I need to implement any changes (Darling et al., 2014). During these evaluations I would use a survey to see if the participants are following through with the program and strategies at home. Also this evaluation would help me identify the reasons the participants are attending and help to determine if their expectations of the program are being met. If a participant feels they are not receiving information they are seeking, I would try to find a way to incorporate it into the program.
Finally, at the end of the program a Summative Evaluation would be done to determine the overall results, such as if specific goal were met and its effect on the participants. This questionnaire will help in deciding if the program should continue as is, conducted in a different manner or discontinue completely (Darling et al., 2014). At the end of the program, we will find out if we have provided the participants with enough information, resources and skills to successfully manage how their households function.
References
Darling, Carol, Dawn Cassidy, Lane Powell. (2014). Family Life Education: Working with Families across the Lifespan, 3rd Edition. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. VitalBook file.
NMSU. (2016), Personal Finance and Other Family Resource Management. Retrieved August 29, 2016, from http://mymoney.nmsu.edu/