Outcome-Based Evaluation

This book is the product of 30 years of experience with program evalua- tion. During this time, both service recipients and educational and social programs have experienced major cultural and political shifts in service delivery philosophy, including a focus on quality, mainstreaming, deinsti- tutionalization, community inclusion, and an emphasis on measurable outcomes. Recently stakeholders of these programs have demanded more than just the provision of service, forcing program administrators to evalu- ate their programs' effectiveness and efficiency. The 'era of accoun- tability' is here, and my major goal in writing this book is to help current and future program administrators understand that they need to look beyond simply the provision of service. Indeed, they need to be competent in outcome-based evaluation, which I define as a type of program evaluation that uses valued and objective person-referenced outcomes to analyze a program's effectiveness, impact or benefit-cost. By design, this book can be read from the perspective of a consumer or producer of outcome-based evaluation. As a consumer, the reader will be introduced to the various techniques used in outcome-based evaluation and how to interpret data from outcome-based evaluation analyses. As a producer, the reader will be instructed in how to do outcome-based evalu- ation analyses, along with how to use and act on their results. For both the consumer and producer, two questions should guide the use of outcome- based evaluation.