Management
  Alternatives Pty Ltd
  ABN 23 050 334 435

A. Thinking about
    evaluation
B. Framing an
     evaluation
C. Evaluation
     report outline
D. Model of service
E. Community
     profile
F. Peer review
G. Focus groups
H. Telling stories
I. Staff time use
J. Questionnaires

C. Evaluation report outline

The following is an outline of an evaluation report. Projects are very diverse. Project reports needs to be appropriate for each Project. So the following should be taken as a starting point for consideration, not a fixed evaluation report framework.

NOTE: A key to focusing the evaluation process and report will be having specific evaluation questions. These questions can often usefully be linked to the original purpose of the project, ie. Why does this project exist? Within this context what do we really want to know about the project?

Contents

Executive summary
A 1 to 2 page overview of what is being evaluated and the findings

Introduction
Who asked for this evaluation and why?
What are the main evaluation questions?
Who are the main audiences?
What is the overall design of the evaluation and why?

Description of the project

Background and context
Community and services network
Why the program came into existence?
Who is the project for?

Project description
Describe the project in enough detail so that any one can understand what it is and what it does
What resources are required (staff, volunteers, funding etc)?

Service model and foundational ideas
Who are the clients? What are the intended outcomes?
What are the core values the underpin the project?
What is the service process model?
What are the intended outcomes at each phase of the process? What is the program logic?
What are the ideas the project is founded on?
What is the supporting evidence for these ideas?
What are the pointers to progress?

The project - what happened?

How did the project evolve?
What was the extent of the Project? Over time? For example:
      How many clients
      What type of clients
      How often were they seen?
      How much service?
      How much staff time per client?
      What cost per client? Cost per hour of service?
What were the benefits of the Project? Over time?
      What difference did the project make to clients? Service networks? etc
      Client stories? Staff stories?
How does this project compare with other projects trying to achieve the same kinds of outcomes?

What was learnt?

About the process of the Project?
      How good is the design and implementation of the Project?
About the impacts of the Project?
      What were the intended and unintended impacts?
About promising practice?
      What is the potential here for others?
About the evaluation process
      What was valuable/useful not valuable/useful about the evaluation process?

Conclusions
Key findings about what happened
Recommendations for improvement? For future projects?

Attachments
1. Project documentation
Documentation describing the project
2. The Evaluation process
Detailed description of the evaluation process
3. Supporting evidence
Eg survey results; qualitative interview data, etc.