The primary audience for the toolkit is individuals who evaluate local, state, or federal pro-
grams Other individuals engaged in program evaluaon might also benet from the toolkit
The toolkit will be parcularly helpful to individuals responsible for:
• Designing evaluaons of program implementaon and outcomes
• Collecng and analyzing data about program implementaon and outcomes
• Wring reports or disseminang informaon about program implementaon and
outcomes
This toolkit covers the main components of program evaluaon, from foundaonal pracces
to quantave and qualitave methods, to disseminaon of ndings The toolkit content is
broad and might challenge you to think in new ways However, you do not need prior expe-
rience or advanced training in program evaluaon to benet from using the toolkit In addi-
on to the main content for general users, oponal resources in the toolkit can help more
advanced users rene their knowledge, skills, and abilies in program evaluaon
The following quesons can help you determine your readiness to use the toolkit without
support from colleagues:
• Are you, or have you been, engaged in program evaluaon?
• Do you have basic data literacy, gained from some experience in gathering, reviewing,
and using data?
You can progress through the toolkit modules either sequenally or selecvely, review-
ing only modules that pertain directly to your current evaluaon needs (gure 1) In each
module the rst chapter provides a basic introducon to the module topic, and the sub-
sequent chapters increase in complexity and build on the basic introducon For each
module you can decide what level of complexity best meets your program evaluaon needs
Modules, 3, 4, and 7 require stascal knowledge If you lack stascal experse, you might
consider working through them with a colleague who has stascal experse You can use
the toolkit tracker to document your progress (gure 2) In the tracker you can record when
you start a module and which modules you have completed
It is best to start with Module 1: Logic models, which focuses on developing a logic model
for your program A logic model is a graphical representaon of the relaonship between
program components and desired outcomes A well-craed logic model will serve as the
foundaon for the other modules in the toolkit You will draw on your logic model when
developing measurable evaluaon quesons, idenfying quality data sources, and selecng
appropriate analyses and other key components of your evaluaon If you choose to prog-
ress through the toolkit selecvely, the module selecon checklist can help you idenfy
which modules to priorize (table 1)