How to Communicate Evaluation Findings


Book Description

Replete with examples from a wide range of disciplines, this concise volume shows the reader how to communicate results to users and stakeholders throughout the evaluation process. The authors stress the importance of maintaining a variety of channels of formal and informal reporting mechanisms, as well as the need to tailor the medium and message for intended audiences and users. Easy-to-use worksheets are provided to help readers prepare reports. Practical tips on how to communicate effectively, on using graphs and tables, and on presenting the final report are all contained in this important publication.




Essentials of Assessment Report Writing


Book Description

The bestselling guide to reporting writing, updated and reworked for today's practice Essentials of Assessment Report Writing offers effective solutions to the creation of reader-friendly, yet targeted, psychological, and educational assessment reports. Parents, clinicians, clients, and other readers need more than test-by-test descriptions—they need an accessible analysis of the entire situation to determine their next steps. This book provides clear guidance for busy practitioners seeking ways to improve their report writing skills. With a focus on current practice, this new second edition covers DSM-5 updates and the latest assessment instruments including the WJ IV, WISC-V, WAIS-IV, KTEA-3, and the CAS2. New discussion includes advice on tailoring the report to the audience, and annotated case reports provide illustrative models of effective report styles, interpretation, and analysis. Key concepts are highlighted for quick reference throughout, and end-of-chapter questions help reinforce understanding. Reporting styles vary widely within the field, in both content and style; there is no definitive "standard," but many reports fail to reflect best practices and therefore prove less than useful to the reader. This book provides expert guidance throughout the reporting process to help practitioners provide high-quality, accessible reports. Integrate assessment results to provide a person-centered report Identify and navigate critical decision points in the interpretive process Write efficiently yet effectively while enhancing the reader's experience Provide an accurate, informative, and readable assessment report Incorporate practical recommendations to address the referral concerns Expertly-conducted assessments should culminate with a carefully constructed analysis that provides direction via clear communication. Because this report will be used to inform treatment, intervention, and ultimately, the client's quality of life—it is critical that it provides clear, informative guidance in a way that readers can understand. Essentials of Assessment Report Writing provides comprehensive guidelines for navigating through the report writing process.




How to Present an Evaluation Report


Book Description

Guide to the evaluation of programmes in educational planning - covers fundamentals of programme evaluation, objectives and decision making, design and planning methodologys, e.G. Comparison with control groups, measurement of attitudes, and success, statistical analysis, and related evaluation techniques to quantify assertions (conducting surveys and writing an evaluation report). Bibliographys, diagrams, illustrations, questionnaires and statistical tables.




Essentials of Assessment Report Writing


Book Description

Instructive guide to preparing informative and accurate assessment reports for a variety of individuals and settings Assessment reports are central to the diagnostic process and are used to inform parents, clients, and clinicians, among others, about academic problems, personality functioning, neuropsychological strengths and weaknesses, behavioral problems, and the like. Essentials of Assessment Report Writing provides handy, quick-reference information, using the popular Essentials format, for preparing effective assessment reports. This book is designed to help busy mental health professionals quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to write effective psychological assessment reports. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered. This practical guide focuses on efficiently and effectively communicating referral and background information, appearance and behavioral observations, test results and interpretation, summary and diagnostic impressions, and treatment recommendations. The authors provide examples of both good and bad case report writing and highlight ethical issues and topics relevant to presenting feedback. Essentials of Assessment Report Writing is the only pocket reference illustrating how to prepare an effective assessment report.




Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting


Book Description

Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting has been thoroughly revised and updated creating 75% new material and 34 new case examples. The Second Edition provides worksheets and instructions for creating a detailed communicating and reporting plan based on audience needs and characteristics. Authors Rosalie T. Torres, Hallie Preskill, and Mary E. Piontek cover advances in technology including Web site communications, Web and videoconferencing, and Internet chat rooms. Also mentioned are several additional topics for consideration, including communicating and reporting for diverse audiences and for multi-site evaluations.




Understanding and Evaluating Research


Book Description

Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide shows students how to be critical consumers of research and to appreciate the power of methodology as it shapes the research question, the use of theory in the study, the methods used, and how the outcomes are reported. The book starts with what it means to be a critical and uncritical reader of research, followed by a detailed chapter on methodology, and then proceeds to a discussion of each component of a research article as it is informed by the methodology. The book encourages readers to select an article from their discipline, learning along the way how to assess each component of the article and come to a judgment of its rigor or quality as a scholarly report.




Annual Report on Evaluation Findings, 2001


Book Description

This report provides highlights of the findings that emerged from evaluation reports received by the Evaluation Unit during the year. Section 1 presents findings drawn from 15 evaluations with specific attention to 3 areas of program performance: capacity building, policy influence and the utilization of research results. Section 2 provides information about 2 processes through which projects and programs contribute to corporate learning: Project Completion Reports and Program Initiative evaluation plans. Section 3 presents examples of the application of the Outcome Mapping methodology in a variety of contexts for planning, monitoring and evaluation.




Advancing Public Policy Evaluation


Book Description

Several research topics are discussed in this volume, beginning with research related to the organization and management of program evaluation within government departments, or across government departments in a national or sub-national jurisdiction. Following this there are papers on research related to the planning of evaluation schedules and/or the planning of individual evaluations; research related to the conduct (management methods and reporting) of program evaluation studies within and across national jurisdictions; and research related to enhancing the utilization of evaluation findings. The volume focuses on how these aspects of the evaluation process relate, and are useful to the various clients for evaluation. These clients include those within the evaluating organization (program managers, heads of organizations); political clients (legislative bodies, politicians); clients in central control organizations (budget offices, audit offices); and the public.




Finding What Works in Health Care


Book Description

Healthcare decision makers in search of reliable information that compares health interventions increasingly turn to systematic reviews for the best summary of the evidence. Systematic reviews identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar but separate studies, and can help clarify what is known and not known about the potential benefits and harms of drugs, devices, and other healthcare services. Systematic reviews can be helpful for clinicians who want to integrate research findings into their daily practices, for patients to make well-informed choices about their own care, for professional medical societies and other organizations that develop clinical practice guidelines. Too often systematic reviews are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews leading to variability in how conflicts of interest and biases are handled, how evidence is appraised, and the overall scientific rigor of the process. In Finding What Works in Health Care the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain. Finding What Works in Health Care also proposes a framework for improving the quality of the science underpinning systematic reviews. This book will serve as a vital resource for both sponsors and producers of systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.




Program Evaluation in Practice


Book Description

An updated guide to the core concepts of program evaluation This updated edition of Program Evaluation in Practice covers the core concepts of program evaluation and uses case studies to touch on real-world issues that arise when conducting an evaluation project. This important resource is filled with illustrative examples written in accessible terms and provides a wide variety of evaluation projects that can be used for discussion, analysis, and reflection. The book addresses foundations and theories of evaluation, tools and methods for collecting data, writing of reports, and the sharing of findings. The discussion questions and class activities at the end of each chapter are designed to help process the information in that chapter and to integrate the information from the other chapters, thus facilitating the learning process. As useful for students as it is for evaluators in training, Program Evaluation in Practice is a must-have text for those aspiring to be effective evaluators. Includes expanded discussion of basic theories and approaches to program evaluation Features a new chapter on objective-based evaluation and a new section on ethics in program evaluation Provides more detailed information and in-depth description for each case, including evaluation approaches, fresh references, new readings, and the new Joint Committee Standards for Evaluation