CED Program Development & Evaluation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Formative evaluation in program development is conducted:
- At the conclusion of a program to measure overall impact
- During program implementation to make ongoing improvements (Correct answer)
- Before a program begins to assess community need
- Five years after program completion to measure lasting change
Correct answer: During program implementation to make ongoing improvements
Formative evaluation is an ongoing process conducted during implementation that provides feedback to improve and refine program activities in real time.
Question 2: Summative evaluation is primarily designed to:
- Guide program staff in daily decision-making
- Identify problems during program implementation
- Assess the overall effectiveness and impact of a completed program (Correct answer)
- Determine community needs before program design
Correct answer: Assess the overall effectiveness and impact of a completed program
Summative evaluation occurs at the end of a program to judge its overall merit, effectiveness, and impact — informing decisions about continuation or replication.
Question 3: For evaluating participant experiences and understanding barriers to program access, the most appropriate method is:
- Random controlled trials with large sample sizes
- Analysis of administrative data and service records
- In-depth interviews with program participants (Correct answer)
- Standardized assessments with pre/post comparisons
Correct answer: In-depth interviews with program participants
In-depth interviews allow participants to share their experiences, perspectives, and barriers in their own words, providing rich qualitative insights unavailable through quantitative methods.
Question 4: Culturally competent program design requires executive directors to:
- Translate all program materials into multiple languages without other modifications
- Engage community members from the target population in program planning and design (Correct answer)
- Hire only staff who share the cultural background of program participants
- Standardize all programs identically across different cultural communities
Correct answer: Engage community members from the target population in program planning and design
Cultural competence requires meaningful engagement of community members in program design to ensure relevance, accessibility, and alignment with community values and norms.
Question 5: Executive directors should use program evaluation results primarily to:
- Justify current staffing levels to the board of directors
- Inform strategic decisions about program continuation, modification, or expansion (Correct answer)
- Satisfy funder reporting requirements without internal review
- Compare the organization's programs to competitors
Correct answer: Inform strategic decisions about program continuation, modification, or expansion
Evaluation results should drive evidence-based decision-making, helping leaders improve program quality, allocate resources effectively, and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders.
Question 6: In experimental program evaluation, a control group serves to:
- Control the budget allocated to the program being evaluated
- Provide a comparison to isolate the program's effects from other factors (Correct answer)
- Manage the administrative processes during evaluation
- Control who has access to program evaluation reports
Correct answer: Provide a comparison to isolate the program's effects from other factors
A control group — participants who do not receive the program — provides a baseline comparison that helps isolate whether observed changes are due to the program rather than external factors.
Question 7: 'Program fidelity' in implementation refers to:
- The loyalty of program participants to the organization
- The degree to which a program is delivered according to its original design (Correct answer)
- Financial accuracy in program budget reporting
- The consistency of staff attendance at program sessions
Correct answer: The degree to which a program is delivered according to its original design
Fidelity measures the extent to which a program is implemented as intended, which is critical for attributing outcomes to the program and for successful replication.
CED Program Development & Evaluation 2
Formative evaluation in program development is conducted: