Social Program Evaluation Paper

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Policy makers and other organizations who develop social programs, use program evaluations to improve, fix, or eliminate programs which are not effective. There are two types of evaluations that are used in policy making and program development, formative evaluations and summative evaluations. Formative evaluations are used to improve current programs, while summative evaluations determine if the exact goals and objectives are being met by the program. Evaluators examine who the program effects and how people are affected (Rossi, Lipsey and Freeman, 2004). Evaluations are also used to determine why the program may need to be modified, any interventions that can be done and the goals, benefits, and costs of the program. According to Rossi et …show more content…

Stakeholders are the individuals or groups of people who are interested or have put money into the development of the program. Another responsibility of an evaluator is to have a good relationship with the stakeholders to ensure that the concerns of the stakeholders are being met. Stakeholders and the evaluator may collaborate in order to get support from the program's proponents, so they are able to improve the program. Having a relationship with stakeholders also helps to clarify the issues that the evaluation is attempting to …show more content…

The evaluation helps to generate the question of if the Head Start program is effective in meeting the goals of helping prepare children for school and the world. All components of an evaluation are useful in determining its effectiveness The basis behind the Head Start program is that young children can benefit from intervention programs childhood experiences and y providing quality services to children and their families with the help of the community. By considering the inputs and program process the program's outputs should coincide with what the goals are for the program. Because parental involvement is a key component of the Head Start program family participation and relationships are very influential on the child's outcomes. While the Head Start program provides guidance and tips for parents, the parent plays a primary role in that child's life as the first person the educate, nurture and advocate for them (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). The Head Start program has been around for several years and without a thorough evaluation, the program could have been using government funding for a program that has not been proven effective, which would in turn waste valuable resources. The evaluation process is used to determine which programs are not useful or have failed to meet

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