Outcome-based Program Development and Evaluation
Dimock Series on Groups

Hedley Dimock     

Captus Press, ISBN 978-1-55322-083-1 (2004)
84 pages, 140 g, 6 X 9, $7.50 (US$7.50)

This is the newest title to join the Dimock Series of Books on Groups. It focuses on setting measurable goals for the desired results of your programs and then establishing outcome-based performance assessments of these measurable goals. Containing numerous hands-on examples, outlines and tools to guide evaluation activities, the book is ideal for community serving organizations who want to consider the benefits of building their programs based on the desired outcomes inherent in the mission statements.

Table of Contents   top

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

The Role of Outcome-based Evaluation

  1. Organization resources
  2. Activities, programs, or services
  3. Outcomes or results of the activities

2. The Outcome-based Model

Mission
Operational Goals
Objectives (with Measurable Outcomes)
Program Plan
Implementation
Monitoring and Evaluating

3 Starting an Outcome-based Initiative

Assumptions about Starting Successful Initiatives

  1. The social system (community, work group, or organization) is the focus of change
  2. The people affected by a change should be involved in making that change
  3. Possibilities for change are increased if the group is functioning well.
  4. The power people in the system must support the change or it has little chance of success
  5. Change in one part of a system will produce strain in related parts and require changes in them.
  6. Previous interventions in the social system establish a pattern of response for further interventions
  7. Resistance to change is normal and helpful in stabilizing new changes
  8. Change is more easily effected by reducing the forces against change than by strengthening the forces for it.

Creating a Parallel Organizational Culture
The Initiative Leadership Team

4. The Planning Process

Stakeholder Involvement
The Program Development Initiative Plan

5. Outcome-based Program Evaluation

What Can Be evaluated?
Level of Program Evaluation
Experience-based Evaluation for
Program Improvement
    Sample Qualitative Analysis Methods
Strategies for Increasing Credibility
Summary

6 Reporting and Action Planning

Action Planning
Initiative Spinoff

Selected Bibliography

Instructor Resources   top

Related Resources   top

Online Course:

About the Author   top

Dr. Hedley Dimock is the Director of the Centre for Human Resource Development, an independent consulting and research organization located in Puslinch, Ontario. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Guelph, and has served on the faculties of eight other universities in Canada and the U.S., including McGill, Columbia, Toronto, and Concordia. Dr. Dimock has experience in recreational, educational, health service and community work settings and has worked with over 300 organizations across Canada. He has published extensively and five of his books have been published in Japanese.