Your Guide to Confirmative Evaluation

At a time when no expenditure is going unquestioned in organizations, training professionals are under increased pressure to prove the continuing efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and value of training programs as well as the continuing competence of the learners.

This much-needed book offers trainers, consultants, evaluation professionals, and human resource executives and practitioners a hands-on resource for understanding and applying the proven principles of confirmative evaluation. Confirmative evaluation is a marriage of evaluation and continuous improvement. Unlike other types of evaluation–which are used during the design of a learning program or applied immediately after conducting a program–confirmative evaluation follows several months after the program is implemented. It tests the endurance of outcomes, the return on investment, and establishes the effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and value of the training over time.

Throughout Confirmative Evaluation the authors show how to:

• Develop a complete, accurate, and useful confirmative evaluation plan
• Assess the evaluability of the training process
• Use a flowchart, a rating form, and other performance support techniques and tools to support confirmative evaluation
• Employ hard and soft technologies to conduct an efficient and effective confirmative evaluation
• Seamlessly add confirmative evaluation to your repertoire of knowledge and skills
• Interpret the data and communicate the results

This book provides an on-the-job guide for planning and conducting confirmative evaluation of training programs and is filled with useful tables, figures, performance support tools, references, a glossary, and a thorough case study.

Confirmative evaluation fits within the authors' Full Scope Evaluation Model (consisting of formative, summative, confirmative, and meta evaluation) and focuses on evaluating the continuing efficiency, effectiveness, and value of human performance technology and training programs within businesses and other organizations. After explaining the full model and the place of confirmative evaluation within it, training consultants Dessinger and Moseley describe how to use hard and soft technologies to conduct confirmative evaluation
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"The book provides the guidance you need to begin the evaluation process…" (IACET Newsletter, 6/1/2004)

This much-needed book offers trainers, consultants, evaluation professionals, and human resource executives and practitioners a hands-on resource for understanding and applying the proven principles of confirmative evaluation. Confirmative evaluation is a marriage of evaluation and continuous improvement. Unlike other types of evaluation¾which are used during the design of a learning program or applied immediately after conducting a program¾confirmative evaluation follows several months after the program is implemented. It tests the endurance of outcomes, the return on investment, and establishes the effectivenss, efficiency, impact, and value of the training over time.

List of Figures, Tables, and Performance Support Tools.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: Getting the Most from This Resource.

PART 1: The Challenge.

Chapter 1: Full-Scope Evaluation: Raising the Bar.

Evaluation: The Full Scope.

Comparing the Four Types of Evaluation.

Evaluation: Full-Scope Model.

Challenges to Full-Scope Evaluation.

Chapter 2: Confirmative Evaluation: A Model Guides the Way.

Confirmative Evaluation Model.

Challenges to Implementing Confirmative Evaluation.

Why Bother?

PART 2: Meeting the Challenge.

Chapter 3: Preplan: Assess Training Program Evaluability.

When to Plan Confirmative Evaluation.

How to Plan a Confirmative Evaluation.

Assess Evaluability.

Challenges to Evaluability Assessment.

Chapter 4: Plan: The Plan’s the Thing.

What’s in a Confirmative Evaluation Plan?

Review, Validate, and Approve the Plan.

Chapter 5: Do: For Goodness’ Sake.

Jump-Start Data Collection.

Focus Data Collection.

Collect the Data.

Train the Data Collectors.

Store the Data.

Manage the Data-Collection Process.

Chapter 6: Analyze: Everything Old Is New Again.

Get Ready, Get Set.

Prepare the Confirmative Evaluation Data.

Now Analyze.

Interpret Confirmative Evaluation Results.

Make Results-Based Recommendations.

Report Confirmative Evaluation Results.

Chapter 7: Improve: Now What?

Focus on Utilization.

Assume the Role.

Accept the Challenge.

Alignment: The Last Word.

PART 3: Lessons from Oz.

Chapter 8: Case Study: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

The Case Study.

Meta Evaluation.

Final Thoughts.

Chapter 9: Conclusion: We’re Not in Oz Anymore.

Issues That Challenge Confirmative Evaluators.

Evaluation as an Emerging Discipline.

Improving the Process.

Put Yourself in the Picture.

Glossary.

References.

Index.

About the Authors.

About the Series Editors.

About the Advisory Board Members.