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How should an evaluation plan be organized: Purposes
The Purposes section of the evaluation plan thoroughly describes the rationale and goals of the evaluation. An evaluation can address a variety of purposes, but all must be delineated clearly. Because evaluation is inevitably a political process, all stakeholders should seek consensus about its purposes if it is to succeed. According to evaluation experts, there are two primary types of purposes, formative and summative. An evaluation with formative purposes is primarily aimed at providing information to inform decisions about how to improve whatever is being evaluated, e.g., how can the graphical user interface of a digital library be made more user-friendly? An evaluation with summative purposes, on the other hand, is primarily aimed at informing decisions related to the worth or merit of whatever is being evaluated, e.g., should another year of funding be extended to a digital library initiative? Many evaluations will have both formative and summative purposes. Here is a brief example of a Purposes section:
PURPOSES: The overall purpose of this evaluation is to provide decision makers at the North American Association of Engineering Professors (NAAEP) with the timely, accurate information required to support decisions regarding the enhancement, expansion, and promotion of the beta version of DLEE. A list of anticipated decisions is presented in a separate section below. As a result of this formative evaluation and the decisions and actions stemming from it, DLEE should be ready for Version 1.0 release in the third quarter of 2004. |
The Purposes section of an evaluation plan should answer the following questions:
- Why is this evaluation being done?
- Is this evaluation primarily formative (to improve), summative (to judge merit or worth), or a blend of both formative and summative goals?