Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSW 514 – Program Evaluation – Spring 2016

Credits - 3

Description

This  course  introduces  students  to  theoretical  and  practical  aspects  of  program   evaluation.  Students  learn  about  the  application  of research  skills  to  all  phases  of   developing  a  program  or  service  innovation,  from  needs  assessment  to  analysis  of   findings.  Students  learn  to  appreciate  how  these  skills  can  be  used  as  practical  tools   for  social  change  and  promoting  the  strengths  of  diversity  in  professional  social   work  settings.  The  content  of  this  course  heavily  integrates  other  elements  of  the  MSW  curriculum   and  a  liberal  arts  background  into  the  program  evaluation  task.  For  example: 

• Defining a  social  problem  requires  attention  to  the  personal  development  of   individuals  in  a  population  at  risk  and  the  social  policy  processes  which   interact  with  the   
• Social problems  are  contextualized  in  a  professional  social  work     Therefore,  students  are  asked  to  integrate  an  understanding  of  a  social   problem,  research  activities,  and  professional  practice. 
• Students learn  how  research  skills  in  the  evaluation  process  can  be  effective   tools  for  social  change  and  organizational   
• Program evaluation  practice  requires  critical  thinking  skills  rooted  in   analysis  of  social  issues  and  inductive  and  deductive        Skills  such  as  survey  construction  and  budgeting  for  evaluation  projects  are   introduced.  The  latter  portion  of  the  class  is  structured  around  in-­‐class  presentation   of  student  evaluation  proposals  with  feedback  provided  by  other  students  in  the   class.  The  course  is  designed  as  a  resource  for  both  direct  practice  and  macro   students,  because  effective  program  evaluation  frequently  requires  collaboration   between  direct  and  macro  levels  of  practice. 

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

School of Social Work Program Outcomes:

Graduates of the UNE SSWO will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and leadership in the following:

1. Practice social inclusion to enable people, populations, and communities to fully participate in society, enhance human bonds in the context of cultural diversity and ensure improved quality of life and equitable resource distribution. EPAS Competencies 2 & 3
2. Engage in culturally-informed relationship building, being respectful of the complexity and diversity of contexts and circumstances. EPAS Competencies 3 & 6
3. Utilize theories of human behavior, social systems and social inclusion when offering interventions with people and their environments. EPAS Competency 8
4. Promote ethical reflection, critical consciousness and shared decision-making based in social work values and with consideration of the broader contexts of the world in which we live. EPAS Competency 1
5. Balance the roles of helpers, activists, and advocates through collaboration with communities to build healthy and sustainable resources. EPAS Competencies 2, 5, & 6
6. Engage as critical consumers and producers of research as it relates to assessment, intervention and evaluation of clinical and community practices. EPAS Competencies 4, 7, 8 & 9
7. Practice person-centered and collaborative community partnerships across diverse settings. EPAS Competency 6

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

1. Be competent  consumers  and  producers  of  knowledge  that  informs  their practice.    
2. Integrate the  process  of  research,  problem  solving,  and   
3. Appreciate human  diversity  issues  in  evaluation  research,  including  the  importance  of  protecting  human    
4. Appreciate the  ethical  and  socio-­‐political  factors  which  influence  the  process  of  evaluation    
5. Be aware  of  the  impact  of  evaluation  outcomes  on  the  future  of  social  work services.  
6. Understand the  process  of  doing  a  needs  assessment  including  key  informant surveys,  focus  groups  and  use  of  available  public     
7. Distinguish between  program  goals  and  objectives,  develop  goals,  and  formulate  measurable   
8. Propose and  complete  a  program  evaluation,  which  integrates  and  utilizes  foundation  research  knowledge  and  skills  developed  in  other  classes  and         

Student Educational Outcomes

The course asks students to practice the conceptualization skills that inform program planning and evaluation. Development of these skills enhances all areas of social work practice. Educational objectives for this course are:

1. Students will  apply  their  knowledge  of  social  work  ethics  and  research  ethics while  conducting  all  work  for  this   
2. Students will  use  an  array  of  intellectual  and  professional  resources  for  information,  including  textbooks,  journals,  web  resources,  clients  and   professional    
3. Students will  write  evaluation  reports  that  are  empirically  grounded  in  data  and  practice      
4. Students will  use  their  course  skills  and  knowledge  to  develop  and  conduct   an  evaluation  project  and  write  an  evaluation  report  that  may  impact  a   professional  social  work    
5. Students will  engage  in  collegial  critique  of  the  work  of  their   

Assignments

Your  course  grade  will  be  determined  by  the  following:     

Class Participation 

(Mandatory  for  a  passing  grade).   

1. Participation: You  are  expected  to  participate  in  classroom  discussions  and   demonstrate  an  understanding  of  course  material  and  integration  of  course   material  into    You are expected to provide a total of 3 posts per week: one initial post and two substantial responses (i.e. 4-5 sentences in  length) to peers, following APA 6^th edition formatting as appropriate.
2. Critique of  PowerPoint presentations of Final Paper.  You  will  actively  participate  in  the  review  of  peer presentations  of  their  final paper. Microsoft PowerPoint must be used for this task.     

Annotated Bibliographies – Due Day 7 of Weeks 3, 5, and 8 (300 points total) 

This course is premised on the notion that social work practice should  be  based  as   much  as  possible  on    Evidence  can  take  many  forms,  but  one  important   source  of  evidence  is  published  literature  (e.g.,  journals,  books,  government  and   research  organization  reports).  You  will  be  asked  to  complete  THREE  Annotated Bibliographies over  the  course  of  the  semester.  Each review will critique one journal article. Each paper is one hundred (100)  points. In  order  to  write  an   evaluation  review  paper  you  will  need  to select  three  research journal articles  that  are  in  the  published  within the last 5-10 years:

1. One study must  be  relevant  to quantitative methodology  (i.e. outcome based evaluation)  
2. One study must  be  relevant  to  qualitative methodology (i.e. needs assessment)
3. One study must  be  relevant  to  mixed methodology (i.e. process evaluation)

An Annotated Bibliography is  a  short  (i.e.,  2  single spaced  pages)  paper  in which you provide the following information. Refer to the document “Writing an Annotated Bibliography” (found via the Annotated Bib Instructions and Materials link int he sidebar) for details.  Fundamental rules are:

1. Full bibliographic information following APA 6^th edition formatting
2. Summary of research methods and findings
3. Critical Assessment of the Article
4. Statement of the Value of the Article (i.e. How it applies to the social work profession)

Final Paper Introduction – Due Day 7 of Week 2 (100 points)    

The Introduction can provide the reader context and direction of the topic to be discussed in detail. The objectives of the writer are to be concise and to set the tone of the proposal to the reader that conveys evidence-based practices and general knowledge of the topic areas being presented in the proposal. As per the Final Paper Instructions, the Introduction is approximately 1 double-spaced page in length following APA 6^th edition formatting. The Introduction also has the potential to be incorporated into the Background of the Program and Statement of the Evaluation Goals section (1-2 pages in length).

When writing the Introduction, consider the following items to be discussed:

1. The agency or program of focus
2. The mission/vision of the agency or program
3. The client population served
4. The services/entitlements/programs provided
5. What is lacking in the agency or program that could benefit from an evaluation?

Final Paper PowerPoint Presentation – Due Day 5 of Week 7 (100  points)  

You will create a PowerPoint presentation of your final paper. Refer to the PowerPoint Presentation Rubric for the necessary items to include. Students have creative freedom (i.e., font, color scheme, number of slides, etc) on this task. It is recommended that if images are included, they be Clip Art or public domain images in an effort to respect copyright laws. Post to the Discussion board AND submit to Dropbox.

Final Paper – Due Week Day 7 of Week 7 (300 points) 

For this paper you will work individually to conceptualize a program evaluation for a human service organization. The final paper should be no more than 12 pages (of content) in length following APA 6^th edition formatting. You should have 5-8 scholarly references. Your paper should be submitted via Dropbox by Day 7 of Week 7. For the final paper, you are to use headings and sub-headings covering all the sections below:

1. Introduction (1 page) – Submitted in Week 2 – revisions should be made based on comments and track changes provided by instructor.
2. Background of the Program and Statement of the Evaluation Goals (1-2 pages)
   1. Describe the program, including its goals and objectives
   2. List the goals of your proposed evaluation
3. Brief Literature Review (2-3 pages): What is known already about evaluating this type of program? Have program evaluations been conducted? What was found? What is lacking?
4. Logic Model (included as an Appendix): Provide a visual model on the selected agency and key components to consider for the evaluation proposal
5. Proposed Methodology (2-3 pages): How would you evaluate the program?
   1. Evaluation design (i.e. design is clearly stated and reasoning is provided)
   2. Sample (i.e. selected sampling frame and reasoning provided)
   3. Data collection techniques (i.e. how will data be collected?)
   4. Data collection instruments (i.e. what will be used to gather data?)
   5. Data Analysis (i.e. what is the overall process for qual or quan data?)
   6. Outcome measures (i.e. what are the objectives of this proposal?)
   7. Limitations of the study (i.e what are the proposed limitations? This will be discussed in detail in VII)
6. Proposed Results (2-3 pages):
   1. What descriptive statistics would you use to describe the proposed sample?
   2. What statistical tests/analysis would you conduct?
   3. If implemented what could these findings mean? What could account for these findings other than the intervention?
   4. How could the limitations of the study (the design, instrument, sample, reliability, validity) influence findings?
7. Conclusions and Recommendations (2-3 pages)
   1. Recommendations regarding the program: Based on your proposal, what does the program need to do?
   2. Recommendations for future evaluation research: What recommendations would you make to other researchers interested in evaluating this type of program? Be specific.

NOTE for sections V and VI: The objective is for students to practice forward critical thinking. Based on the discussions of the proposed analysis and proposed results – what can the student infer will be the next steps of the process? Based on the identified area of need in the Introduction, can the student assess if the program goals are appropriate? These are just some (of many) items to consider.

Grading Policy

The School of Social Work uses the following grading system for all courses with the exception of field education courses. Students are expected to maintain a “B” (3.0) average over the course of their study. Students with less than a GPA of 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 in order to receive their Master’s Degree.

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignment	Point Value	% of Grade
Annotated Bibliographies	100 points x 3 papers	30%
Participation	200 points (25 pts x 8 weeks)	20%
Evaluation Proposal	100 points	10%
Evaluation Report	300 points	30%
Program Evaluation Presentation	100 points	10%
Total	1000 points	100%

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00