Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSW 514 – Program Evaluation

Credits - 3

Description

This course introduces students to social work research specific to program evaluation methods. Students will learn and discuss program evaluation assessment types and the research methodologies conducted in research and applied in practice. Students will conceptualize the steps involved in a program evaluation, for a human services organization, to demonstrate evidence based practices and the potential for social change among clients, organizations, and communities. The content of this course integrates other elements of the MSW curriculum and is designed to include resources that are relevant to 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. Demonstrates ethical and professional behavior.
2. Advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
3. Engage in anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in practice.
4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
5. Engage in policy practice.
6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
8. Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

• Be competent consumers and producers of knowledge that informs their practice. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES 6. As measured by 1) DISCUSSION FORUMS, 2) ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES, 3) FINAL PAPER INTRODUCTION, and 4) FINAL PAPER
• Discuss the ethical and socio-political factors that influence the process of evaluation. PROGRAM OBJECTIVE 4. As measured by 1) DISCUSSION FORUMS, 2) FINAL PAPER, and 3) POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
• Conceptualize and propose a program evaluation, which integrates and utilizes foundation research knowledge and critical thinking. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES 4 and 6. As measured by 1) DISCUSSION FORUMS, 2) ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES, 3) FINAL PAPER INTRODUCTION, 4) FINAL PAPER, and 5) POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

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.     

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?

Annotated Bibliographies – 100 points each (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 annotated bibliography you will need to select three research journal articles that are in the published within the last 5-10 years:

1. The first annotated bibliography must be relevant to quantitative methodology (i.e. outcome based evaluation)  – Due Day 7 of Week 3
2. The second annotated bibliography must be relevant to qualitative methodology (i.e. needs assessment) – Due Day 7 of Week 5
3. The third annotated bibliography must be relevant to mixed methodology (i.e. process evaluation) – Due Day 5 of Week 7

An Annotated Bibliography is a short (i.e., 2 single spaced pages) paper in which you provide the following information. Refer to the template document “Writing an Annotated Bibliography” (found via the Annotated Bibs and Materials link in the sidebar) for details. Students must follow the template format which includes:

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 – 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 assignment link 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.

Once more: The paper should be a maximum of 12 pages of content. Title page, abstract and references do not contribute to page count.

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.

PowerPoint Presentation – Due Day 3 of Week 8 (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 assignment link by day 3 of Week 8.

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%
Final Paper Introduction	100 points	10%
Final Paper	300 points	30%
PowerPoint Presentation	100 points	10%
Total	1,000 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