Program Evaluation

Program evaluation is described by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in the United States as the “systematic collection and analysis of information related to the design, implementation, and outcomes of a program, for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality and effectiveness of the program.” In most cases, aggregated data from the assessment of individuals will be useful in contributing to program evaluation. However, assessment data from individual learners is not, in itself, enough to inform rigorous judgments about program performance. Program evaluation involves analyzing the system and all of its interacting parts and making needed changes; an educational system is made up of more than individual learners. Thus many other sources of information may be important in formulating judgments about program quality and informing change and improvement strategies. Program evaluation is an essential activity for any educational enterprise and should be part of core program management activities. Systematically approaching program evaluation will not only help with meeting accreditation standards and meeting one’s charge of accountability to the public, learners, and other stakeholders, but also should lead to ongoing development and improvement of the program. In this chapter we begin with a discussion of program evaluation purposes followed by a discussion of a variety of program evaluation models and methods, and then transition to providing practical advice on a variety of general issues concerning program evaluation. We refer the reader to several resources to supplement understanding of this vast and expanding topic in health professions education..