Why do many social programs have such a poor track record? What can we do to maximize a program's chance of success? If a program shows promise, how can we scale it up? To answer these questions confronting policymakers, and to ensure that strong programs are designed, developed, implemented, and taken to scale, appropriate evaluation approaches must be used throughout a program's life cycle. In The Oxford Handbook on Program Design and Implementation Evaluation, Dr. Anu Rangarajan surfaces insights and expertise from a team of eminent scholars to create a comprehensive and actionable toolbox of evaluation methodologies that can be used to examine social programs throughout their life cycle. The methodologies presented in the Handbook describe how to conduct developmental evaluations, perform rapid-cycle evaluations, employ implementation science concepts, assess program effectiveness in the absence of a true counterfactual, measure cost-effectiveness, scale up promising interventions, and assess systems change. Incorporating these approaches at every stage of a program's life cycle will maximize its chances of success; doing so consistently across social programs will help improve their impact overall.
This Handbook is an action-oriented primary resource for social researchers, faculty and students, program practitioners, policy analysts, and funders of social programs and evaluations. By providing real-world examples of each approach alongside methodological guidance, and by highlighting challenges and lessons learned, the Handbook is invaluable to novices and seasoned professionals alike.
By:
Anu Rangarajan (Senior Fellow Senior Fellow Mathematica)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 183mm,
Width: 241mm,
Spine: 71mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780190059668
ISBN 10: 0190059664
Pages: 672
Publication Date: 15 October 2023
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part 1 Chapter 1 Introduction to the Handbook on Program Design and Implementation Evaluation Part 2 Chapter 2 Data Sources and Best Practices for Data Collection Chapter 3 The Changing World of Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation in the Age of Big Data Chapter 4 Important Concepts Affecting Program Design, Management, and Evaluation, But That Are Frequently Ignored Part 3 Chapter 5 Theory of Change and Logic Models: Foundation for the Evaluation of Social Programs Chapter 6 Developmental Evaluation Designs and Methods Chapter 7 Using Developmental Evaluation to Support Adaptive Strategies: An Application from a Social Change Initiative Chapter 8 Using Rapid Cycle Evaluation to Improve Program Design and Delivery Chapter 9 Behavioral Economics, Program Implementation, and Policy Design Chapter 10 Using Rapid-Cycle Experiments to Improve Labor Programs in the United States Chapter 11 Conducting Evaluability Assessments and Its Application in the PrePrimary Education Context in Tanzania Part 4 Chapter 12 Performance Monitoring and Performance Management Systems Chapter 13 Program Monitoring as a Tool to Measuring, Communicating, and Improving Program Effectiveness Chapter 14 Process and Implementation Evaluation Methods Chapter 15 Applying Multiple Methods to Implementation Research: Applications from Youth Education and Employment Programs Chapter 16 Applying Implementation Science Theory in Evaluation Research: Overview and Approaches to Identifying Determinants of Implementation Chapter 17 Evaluating Implementation Strategies Chapter 18 Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to Identify Barriers and Facilitators to Primary Care Practices' Implementation of a Diabetes Registry Part 5 Chapter 19 Conducting Performance Evaluations Chapter 20 Performance Evaluation of the Community Action for Reading and Security Program in Nicaragua Chapter 21 Driving Performance in the EU Context: The Case of Regional Policy Part 6 Chapter 22 Estimating Program Costs Chapter 23 Using Cost-Effectiveness Analysis to Inform Decision-Making: Applications in the Education Sector Chapter 24 Conducting Cost Analysis: Applications from Education Programs for Vulnerable Children and Girls Part 7 Chapter 25 Effectively Scaling Up Promising Approaches: What Evidence is Necessary and How to Ensure it is Used to Improve Lives Chapter 26 Scaling Innovations: What Can Stakeholders Do? Chapter 27 Using Evidence to Scale Up India's Most Promising Education Intervention: The Case of Pratham Part 8 Chapter 28 Systems Research Overview and Its Application to Early Childhood Education Systems Chapter 29 Evaluating Systems: Three Approaches for Analyzing Education Systems and Informing Action
Anu Rangarajan is a Senior Fellow at Mathematica and has a Ph.D. in economics from Brown University. During her 32-year career at Mathematica, she has led numerous large-scale evaluations around the world. She specializes in impact evaluations, process and performance evaluations, rapid-cycle evaluations, cost-benefit analyses, and scale-up studies. Her work spans agriculture, infrastructure, education and workforce, welfare and poverty reduction, maternal and child health, water and sanitation, and climate change. She has taught program evaluation at the School of International and Public Affairs at Princeton University and the University of Maryland.
