~AEA Public Library

Slides from session at 2011 AEA/CDC Summer Evaluation Institute

Session Description: Learn the theory-driven approach for assessing and improving program planning, implementation and effectiveness. You will explore the conceptual framework of program theory and its structure, which facilitates precise communication between evaluators and stakeholders regarding evaluation needs and approaches to address those needs. Mini-lectures, group exercises and case studies will be used to illustrate the use of program theory and theory-driven evaluation for program planning, initial implementation, mature implementation and outcomes. In addition, the participants will learn principles and strategies for using the theory-driven approach to deal with the following cutting edge issues: how to go beyond traditional methodology for designing a real world evaluation, how to achieve both internal and external validity in an evaluation, and how to use program theory for guiding the application of mixed methods in an evaluation.

Audience: Attendees with a basic background in logic models and/or program theory.

Huey Chen is a senior evaluation scientist at the CDC. He was a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham until January 2008. Dr. Chen has contributed to the development of evaluation theory and methodology, especially in the areas of program theory, theory-driven evaluations, and evaluation taxonomy. His book Theory-Driven Evaluations has been recognized as one of the landmarks in program evaluation and his newest text, Practical Program Evaluation, offers an accessible approach to evaluation for those working in any context. In 1993 he received the AEA Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award for contributions to Evaluation Theory and in 1998 he received the CDC Senior Biomedical Research Service Award.

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