| Session Title: Integrating Evaluation into Program Design |
| Multipaper Session 550 to be held in Capitol Ballroom Section 3 on Friday, Nov 7, 10:55 AM to 11:40 AM |
| Sponsored by the Environmental Program Evaluation TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Matt Keene, United States Environmental Protection Agency, keene.matt@epa.gov |
| Abstract: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency works to improve the policy and practice of evaluating environmental programs by integrating evaluation into the design of new programs. Here, two members of the U.S. EPA's Evaluation Support Division discuss their work to integrate systematic evaluation into two new programs--the Paint Product Stewardship Initiative (PPSI), a demonstration project that will inform the creation of a national leftover paint management system, and Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE), a community-based cooperative agreement grant program. The two presenters will discuss the very different approaches chosen by each program, assess the challenges and benefits of working in a collaborative environment to design an evaluation, and how the evaluations have been an instrumental force in design and management of each program. |
| How an Innovative United States Environmental Protection Agency Grants Program is Using Evaluation Tools to Manage the Program Effectively and Build Capacity Among Staff and Across the Agency |
| Michelle Mandolia, United States Environmental Protection Agency, mandolia.michelle@epa.gov |
| As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency works toward a more robust use of the entire suite of performance management tools (the logic model, performance measurement, and program evaluation), EPA's new community-based cooperative agreement grant program CARE (Community Action for a Renewed Environment) has been modeling this use. In this paper, CARE's evaluation and tracking team leader, Michelle Mandolia, will share how the program with limited staff, some critical funding, and the early support of an evaluation champion' has been using logic modeling, measurement, internal analysis, and external evaluation to shape and support the program in its early stages and establish an evaluation frame of mind from the outset. |
| Integrating Evaluation into Program Design |
| Matt Keene, United States Environmental Protection Agency, keene.matt@epa.gov |
| The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency works to improve the policy and practice of evaluating environmental programs by integrating evaluation into the design of new programs. Here, the U.S. EPA's Evaluation Support Division discusses its cooperation with the Paint Product Stewardship Initiative (PPSI) to integrate systematic evaluation into the design of a demonstration project that will inform the creation of a national leftover paint management system. We assess the challenges and benefits of working in a collaborative environment to design an evaluation that will rigorously test the effectiveness and impact of management systems and education strategies. We will also review the significance of the project's evaluation policies related to use and dissemination of the evaluation to key stakeholders that will use results and learning to make decisions about the most effective approaches for paint management. |