| Session Title: A Practitioner's Guide to Program Theory-driven Evaluation |
| Expert Lecture Session 448 to be held in Liberty Ballroom Section B on Thursday, November 8, 5:15 PM to 6:00 PM |
| Sponsored by the Program Theory and Theory-driven Evaluation TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Katrina Bledsoe, The College of New Jersey, katrina.bledsoe@gmail.com |
| Presenter(s): |
| Stewart I Donaldson, Claremont Graduate University, stewart.donaldson@cgu.edu |
| Abstract: The purpose of this presentation will be to provide a state-of-the-art treatment of the practice of program theory-driven evaluation science. This will be accomplished by highlighting some of the main findings from my new book Program Theory-Driven Evaluation Science: Strategies and Applications (2007). This work attempts to fill a serious void in the extant literature, namely a lack of detailed examples of program theory-driven evaluation science being implemented in "real world" settings. That is, instead of relying on abstract theory or hypothetical examples to discuss this evaluation approach, an in-depth description of the nuances and results from a series of "authentic program theory-driven evaluations" from recent evaluation practice will be presented. Challenges and lessons learned from the cases presented and the theory-driven evaluation literature more broadly will be discussed in some detail. |