EVALUABILITY ASSESSMENTS

Evaluability assessments (EA) seek to describe and understand the social reality of a program by continually attempting to see the program through the eyes of the policymakers and program management, staff and recipients. The intent is to end up with an understanding of the program as it actually exists, identifying the differences between how it is formally proposed and how it is actually conducted, and explaining the differences as they are perceived by the various parties involved. Evaluability assessments also estimate the likelihood of effective program performance in terms of the concepts, variables, and assumptions identified in the initial program models, and identify changes in program activities that might be made to improve program performance. Finally, the process helps policymakers and program managers agree on key aspects of the program that are to be evaluated, including expected activities and outcomes that will be monitored, and causal assumptions that will be tested (Welsh, Harris & Jenkins, 1996, Wholey, 1989).

Some major products of the procedures just described will be:

• Program Descriptions
• Program Theory
• Logic Model
• Determining Evaluability
• Determining Program Use of Evaluation Findings
• Development of Evaluation Plan(s)