An action research strategy for selecting and conducting program evaluations

Abstract

Program evaluation is part of the expanding role of the professional school psychologist. Existing strategies for program evaluation, however, are insufficient to meet the needs of school psychologists interested in evaluating school-related programs. The diversity of educational programs necessitates a more comprehensive, integrated, and flexible model. In the present paper, dimensions of program evaluation—target, purpose, and stage—relevant to school psychologists are described and defined, and then combined into a conceptual framework indicating 48 different types of program evaluation. The present model incorporates relevant aspects of existing program evaluation strategies and action research, affording practitioners a strategy for selecting and conducting program evaluations. Suggested steps for implementing the action research strategy, as well as a hypothetical example of its use, also are offered.