PHASE ONE
Discovery
STEP 01
Pre-Evaluation Check Up

The Pre-Evaluation Check Up will capture information on your organizational context and evaluation assets, and the evaluation experience of your staff. The answers will help you understand what supports you need to accomplish your evaluation goals.
You will also be able to identify the areas where the organization wants to focus its evaluation efforts.
Where is your organization on your evaluation journey?
What is your capacity to undertake this journey?
What are your evaluation assets?
What resources do you need to successfully complete this journey?
KEY TAKEAWAY
A shared understanding of your program’s capacity and what program assets/resources are available to support your evaluation. An example of an asset/resource would be an inventory of data that your program already collects.
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Remember that meaningfully involving youth participants strengthens evaluations of youth programs. Watch this YouthREX webinar series to learn more about engaging youth in program design and development and in evaluation.

Who are your program stakeholders?
Stakeholders are individuals, groups or organizations that can affect – or are affected by – a an evaluation process or its findings. The primary intended users – the people who will be making decisions on the basis of the evaluation findings – are considered ‘Key Stakeholders’.
Why should you engage stakeholders?
Engaging your stakeholders in your evaluation is useful to ensure that expected results are meeting end-user needs, enhance the design and implementation of the evaluation, contribute to the program logic model and framing of key evaluation questions, and provide different perspectives on what will be considered credible evidence.
Why should you engage your youth participants in your evaluation?
- improves the overall quality of the research and evaluation process.
- benefits the wider community.
- contributes to validating the diverse experiences of youth and equalizing power relations.
How can stakeholders contribute to your evaluation?
Engaging stakeholders ensures that your evaluation will address the questions that they have, contributes to the development of the program logic model, contributes to the framing of key evaluation questions, improves quality data collection, and increases the likelihood that the evaluation’s findings will be used.
How can your program decide whether to use an internal vs. external evaluator?
- Does your program have funds designated for evaluation purposes? Have you successfully conducted previous evaluations of similar programs or services?
- Are existing program practices and information collection forms useful for evaluation purposes?
- Can you collect evaluation information as part of your regular program operations (at intake, termination)?
- Can you collect evaluation information as part of your regular program operations (at intake, termination)?
- Are there program staff that have training and experience in evaluation-related tasks?
- Are there advisory board members who have training and experience in evaluation-related tasks?