Outcome-Based Evaluation

by Robert L. Schalock

Overview

Outcome-based evaluation continues to play a central role in the larger field of policy analysis and speaks to the needs and interests of administrators, students, policymakers, funders, consumers, and educators. In a thoroughgoing revision of the first edition of this classic text and reference, published by Plenum in 1995, the author broadens the coverage from his previous emphasis on developmental disabilities to include other areas of human and social service delivery such as education, health, mental health, aging, substance abuse, and corrections.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475786804
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	03/23/2013
Edition description:	2nd ed. 2001. Softcover reprint of the original 2nd ed. 2001
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

I: An Overview of Outcome-Based Evaluation. 1. An Overview of Outcome-Based Evaluation and Its Application. 2. Program Evaluation. 3. Effectiveness Evaluation. 4. Impact Evaluation. 5. Policy Evaluation. II: Outcomes: Their Selection, Measurement, and Analysis. 6. Selecting Outcomes. 7. Measuring Outcomes. 8. Analyzing and Interpreting Outcomes. 9. Future Scenarios. References. Author Index. Subject Index.

Editorial Reviews

This book is a primer on the principles of outcome-based evaluation and its applications to a variety of public services. Included in these services are programs for healthcare delivery, education, social services, and government support agencies. Outcome based evaluation includes effectiveness analysis, impact analysis and benefit-dost analysis. The purpose is to help program administrators to look beyond simply the provision of quality services to program evaluation that uses person-referenced outcomes to analyze program effectiveness, impact, and cost-benefit. These objectives are essential for evaluation of the overall societal value of public services. In general, these objectives are satisfied, and examples with tabulated data are particularly useful as guides to applications of the principles delineated in the text. The book is written principally for current and future program administrators from a wide spectrum of service disciplines, including healthcare, human resources, education and training, and social and government services. The author is associated with Hastings College and the Mid-Nebraskan Mental Retardation Services. The book is constructed around 20 guiding principles that are summarized in the last chapter. References are provided as both annotated references and additional readings at the end of each chapter. Subject and author indexes are provided along with a detailed table of contents. The book is intelligible, clearly formatted, and easy to read. Each chapter has study questions, and examples in the form of exhibits are provided. Every administrator of a program that provides a service to the public is confronted with new challenges emanating from whatis often referred to as the new era of accountability. These challenges go beyond demands for high-quality services to documentation of program impact, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness in terms of measurable outcomes in the serviced population. For most administrators, these challenges represent uncharted territory, and a guide to pathways to meeting them is needed. This book provides such a guide. It is written from the perspective of underlying principles, with examples taken from a wide spectrum of public services. The book is recommended reading for program administrators and all others perplexed by new demands for accountability based on quantitative measures in the context of outcomes analysis.

William R. Hendee

Schalock (Hastings College, Nebraska) draws on 30 years of experience evaluating education, health care, rehabilitation, and other programs to explain a type of evaluation that uses valued and objective person-referenced outcomes to analyze a program's effectiveness, impact, or benefit/cost. He introduces consumers of such evaluation to the various techniques used and how to interpret data from the analysis, and instructs producers of them how to analyze the evaluation and to use and act on the results. For both he emphasizes the importance of clarifying the purpose the intended use of the evaluation and the information needed for that use. He has incorporated suggestions made about the 1995 edition and has broadened the scope and examples. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

From reviews of the First Edition:

"... [E]minently readable...[with] a wonderfully up-to-date library of references... [The book] offers an evaluation orientation in which values for the well-being of people are foundations. In so doing, it demonstrates that effective evaluation clearly is not just a set of technical methods and tools but, at its heart, it is anchored ultimately in the values...of stakeholders. This is no small contribution..."

(Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps)

"...A welcome addition to available texts on program evaluation. ... Appropriate for program evaluators and experienced service providers with management and supervision responsibilities... An excellent addition to evaluation-focused preservice and inservice training efforts."

(American Journal on Mental Retardation)

"Readers of this book...will find many inspirations for their own evaluative efforts. ...Contains plenty of good advice."

(Evaluation and Program Planning)

"The focus on outcomes is a welcome addition to the program evaluation textbook market... A useful text for program evaluation students."

(American Journal of Evaluation)

"Outcome-based evaluation continues to play a central role in larger field of education, health care, and rehabilitation policy analysis; and it speaks to the needs and interests of administrators, students, policymakers, funders, consumers, and educators. In this second edition (an extensive revision of the 1995 first edition), the author broadens the range of topics to include education, health, mental health, aging, substance abuse, and corrections."

(Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 29:1 (2001)

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