Program Evaluation Proposal
Students will be required to develop an actual program evaluation proposal based on
information from a previous or current internship placement or workplace related to social work.
This assignment aims to provide students with methods and skills of evaluation as well as
professional analysis and writing skills in evaluating practice, program, and/or policies.
This is an individual assignment, but if students want to conduct this assignment as a group (3
students per group), students need to obtain the instructor’s permission by the 2nd week of the
semester.
Here are the sections to be included in the proposal. Important note: Use the format below to
submit your evaluation proposal. Please review the following pages that include several
mandatory components for the proposal.
Proposal Guideline
Cover
Present your Title – 12 words or fewer, including topic, variables and relationship between them,
and most critical key words.
Include your name, program, J#, course # and course name, and instructor’s name.
Abstract [1 page]
Maximum of 200 words in this format: Program specification, design & methods, expected
results, and implication for practice and policy
Body of Text
1. Introduction/Background [2 pages]
• A statement of the problem (including background information) that the particular
program or policy is aimed at ameliorating, preventing, or resolving.
2. Description of the Agency and the Program [3-5 pages]
● Identify and select a program within the agency for evaluation (Note: If you are no longer
in internship placement, identify and select a program that you would like to evaluate in
the future).
● An overview describing the agency and the program to be evaluated.
● Include the logic model of the program; 1) Inputs/resources/limitations, 2) Activities you
will undertake to address the problem, 3) Outputs you will produce/implement, and 4)
Immediate or Short-term and long-term outcomes with a rationale for why these
outcomes are expected to occur.
● List the goals and objectives of the program; provide references as following the APA
Specify the client and or system conditions that the program attempts to address.
● A discussion of the reasons (need) for conducting an evaluation of this particular
program or policy and a description of the potential uses of the evaluation information to
be generated.
● A description of the evaluation environment, including the receptivity of the
administration, staff, and other stakeholders to an evaluation, and the readiness of the
agency or program to be evaluated.
● A detailed description of the program offered or extant policies (the “independent
variable”)
● A statement of the specific impacts expected upon the problem (outcome objectives or
“dependent variable [s]”) to be achieved by the programmatic effort or policy.
● A statement of the specific question(s) the evaluation is intended to answer. (This step is
analogous to explaining the research question(s) in academic research.)
3. Review of Literature [5-7 pages]
• The first step in developing your research is to search the literature related to the
general area you want to investigate. In your review of recent, empirical literature, what
keywords did you search and in what databases? [2-3 paragraphs]
• Provide at least 5 brief summaries (up to 10 brief summaries) of recent, scholarly
(peer-reviewed) articles that support/justify a current and relevant problem in the social
work field. Include the complete, APA citation and (a) an in-text citation; (b) what they
studied; (c) what they found; and (d) why this is important in relation to your study. This
evidence provides the justification for your research problem.
o Example of brief summaries for one article:
Ismail, H. M., Majid, F. A., & Ismail, I. S. (2013). “It’s complicated” relationship:
Research students’ perspective on doctoral supervision. Procedia – Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 90, 165–170. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.07.078
(a) Ismail, Majid, and Ismail (2013); (b) focused on the student experience with
supervision while learning to conduct research; (c) found three issues of lack of
positive communication, lack of expertise, and power conflicts; and (d) this is
important in relation to my study because it may help explain progress on the
development of a problem statement in the capstone process.
4. Research Design [1/2 page]
● A description of the evaluation research design used to control for intervening variables
(e.g., survey research, pre-, quasi or true experimental design, interview, etc.) you will
use to evaluate the program (refer to chapter 9).
● A statement of the limitations or weaknesses in the design and/or the sample, if any.
How are you able to address threats to internal validity (e.g., selection, maturation,
dropout, etc.) using your research design?
5. Sampling Selection (*Non-random assignment) [1/2 page]
● A statement of sampling selection. What sampling method will you use? (refer to chapter
8). What inclusive criteria will you use for selecting participants? How will you recruit,
contact, and retain participants? How many?
● How will you protect the rights of participants such as ethical issues of informed consent
content, voluntary participation, protection of sensitive data, etc
Data Collection Procedure [1 page]
● A description of how the data will be collected (who, when, and where), using what
procedures.
7. Measurement (*consistent with outcomes*) [1-2 page]
● Discuss the conceptualization and operationalization of your measures for the program.
● Identify instruments/measures that you could use in evaluating the program (refer to
chapter 11). Important note: Append a copy of the actual instruments and protocols to be
used.
● A description of measures to be used in collecting information about program or policy
outcomes, including a statement of any limitations or weaknesses in the measures.
● Discuss the population/sample upon whom the instrument was developed and
standardized, including statistical information and decide to construct your own, you are
required to provide sample items and state how you will address reliability and validity
issues.
8. Analysis Plan [1/2 – 1 page]
● This analysis plan should be linked to the evaluation research questions, goals, and
objectives (= outcomes) of the program as well as linked to the evaluation design
including measurement.
● Students are expected to describe the appropriate statistical techniques for analyzing
data on sample descriptive measures and outcomes measures.
● Students may also summarize their analysis plan in table format by describing all
measures and their level of measurement in addition to specifying the appropriate
statistical techniques.
● A description of how the evaluation data will be analyzed. Show how students will
analyze data, using “dummy” (fictive) data, tables, graphs and/or charts. Show what
summary measures and statistics (as appropriate) students will use for data analysis,
computing these from dummy data. [Use future tense when students write this section,
not past tense, along the following lines: “In order to give the reader an understanding of
how the data will be analyzed, let us assume the proposed measures have been
implemented and the data have been collected. This is how the data will be displayed
and analyzed… etc.”]
9. Expected Results (*probable simulated data) [1 – 2 pages]
● Demonstration of Tables & Figures for visual significance
● Brief description of anticipated results along with statistical significance tests
10. Discussion [1 – 3 pages]
● integration of results and prior literature
● limitations, strengths, & ethical issues,
● implications for policy, practice and future evaluation research
11. Sharing Results [1/2 page]
• A description of the processes, channels, and media students will use for distributing the
evaluation results. What presentations and written reports are anticipated, and which
stakeholders will receive them? How do students expect the report to be utilized by
these parties?
12. Timeline [1/2 page]
● Provide a short description of a timeline for the steps in an evaluation plan along with a
table or chart. In general, a one-year plan would be appropriate.
13. Budget and Written Justification [1/2 page]
• Show the budget indicating the expected costs of the evaluation, including estimated
costs of staff time, even if the evaluation is to be conducted internally by the organization
itself.
• Provide the budget form and provide a one-page written budget justification to detail the
items on the budget form. Please include the calculation(s) used to estimate costs. If
students need to adjust the form, please do so.
Budget Form/Table Example.
BUDGET Proposed ($)
A. Salaries for Personnel (e.g., evaluator)
Sub-total A
B. Expendable Supplies (e.g., copy)
Sub-total B
C. Equipment (e.g., i-Pad, recorder)
Sub-total C
D. Other Expenses/Fees
Sub-total D
Total Amount Requested (Sub-total A+B+C+D)
14. References
● At least 10 peer-review empirical articles are required.
● The list of all references that you cite in the previous sections.
15. Appendix
● Logic Model
● Completed IRB application or IRB approval
● Informed consent form
● Instruments and/or Protocols
● eCopy of articles (10 articles) that you reviewed for the Review of Literature section.
16. Paper Requirements
● The length of this proposal should be at least 18 pages excluding the Cover, References
and Appendix.
● This assignment MUST be typed using APA 7th style.
● Use headers as guided above.
● Use subheadings as guided above.
● Relevant citations along with references
● Attach a copy of references of both the published articles and any unpublished or “in-
house” document used in developing your program evaluation proposal.
○ Note well: You are expected to search the professional literature for articles
and/or books relevant to your proposal, e.g., studies or reports that help clarify
the agency genre, target populations(s), problem definition(s), or that contain
useful examples of measures, appropriate designs, examples of analyses, etc.
Both the narrative of your evaluation plan and your attached bibliography are to
reflect a thorough search.
● At least 10 references should be peer-reviewed journal articles.
● Append the JSU IRB application along with required materials to Dr. Lee.
● Proofread your paper before it is turned in.
● Important note here that you need to sign up ahead of enough time with the Richard
Writing Center to get the paper reviewed. You can access to its website through
CANVAS; you can find Writing Center on the left.
● Submit the completed proposal to Canvas and other required documents to Google
Drive, that Dr. Lee will assign to students.
