Ten Easy Steps for Effective Program Assessment and Impact Evaluation.

A new era of fiscal uncertainty is affecting the Cooperative Extension System, which is also being held to greater levels of accountability. Demonstration of return on investment or impact is essential to continue traditional funding and to enhance future success for competitive dollars. Is Cooperative Extension up to the challenge? A quantitative content analysis by Workman and Scheer (Journal of Extension, 2012) found that while nearly two-thirds of JOE articles published between 1965 and 2009 documented impact evidence above the level of clientele participation, less than 6% documented long-term outcomes. Why is this so low? Are Extension personnel competent to measure impact of their programming? A study of Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension's field-based agricultural and natural resource personnel found that while skills and knowledge, and confidence, may sometimes be limiting factors, the greatest factor limiting program evaluation was time (Kluchinski, 2011). How can Cooperative Extension personnel increase their proficiency and efficiency?  Knowledge of effective program development, evaluation and assessment methods is essential.  These competencies include: conducting needs assessments, writing measurable objectives, developing evaluation plans, selecting evaluation methods, developing a survey instrument, choosing sampling techniques, testing a survey instrument, getting human subjects review/approval, conducting focus groups interviews, analyzing evaluation data, using evaluation results and preparing evaluation reports. Mastery of these tools and techniques would be optimal, but often impractical.  However, Cooperative Extension personnel can learn the basics, effectively utilize available tools and resources, and ultimately enhance their skill sets to increase their own proficiency and efficiency in measuring and reporting program impact.