Evaluation Toolkit

Overview

The Evaluation Toolkit is designed to help user locate resources to assist in documenting and achieving measurable health outcomes. It consists of three components:

An Evaluation Primer that explains the basics of public health evaluations.
A list of Key Resources for use in the development of evaluations.
A Choose and Use Guide for quickly accessing current evaluations and guides for use as promising practices.

Key Resources

Overviews

U.S. Government Accountability Office. Designing Evaluations.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A Framework for Program Evaluation.
Community Toolbox. Evaluating Community Programs and Initiatives (Chapter 36: Introduction to Evaluation).
Remember that evaluation should address health equity and social determinants of health:
- It’s Time to Let Go of Tired Narratives about Talent in Evaluation.
- Evaluation is So White: Systemic Wrongs Reinforced by Common Practices and How to Start Righting Them.

More Resources

Other overviews, alphabetical by author:

American Evaluation Association. Guiding Principles for Evaluators.
American Academy of Pediatrics. Evaluating your Community-Based Program. Part I: Designing Your Evaluation | Part II: Putting Your Evaluation Plan to Work.
Association for the Study and Development of Community. Principles for Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives.
Center for Global Development. When Will We Ever Learn: Improving Lives through Impact Evaluation.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Introduction to Program Evaluation for Public Health Programs: A Self-Study Guide.
Lazenbatt A. The Evaluation Handbook for Health Professionals.
National Science Foundation. The 2002 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Outline of Principles of Impact Evaluation.
Partnership for Environmental Public Health. Evaluation Metrics Manual: Chapter 7: Principles of Evaluation.
Urban Institute. Evaluation Strategies for Human Services Programs: A Guide for Policymakers and Providers.
Urban Institute. Outcome Monitoring: Building a Common Outcome Framework to Measure Non-Profit Performance.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Evaluation Handbook.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Logic Model Development Guide: Using Logic Models to Bring Together Planning, Evaluation, and Action.

Choose and Use Guide

The MCH Digital Library has collected over 1,000 documents that focus on evaluation, many of which were funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). We have chosen over 200 of the best and most recent documents for inclusion in this guide.

Use this Choose and Use guide to narrow your search in finding materials most suited for your needs.

Note: checking more boxes below narrows your search. If your search finds "no records," try another search with fewer boxes checked.

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Evaluation Toolkit (July 2013). (Updated: March 2020).

Author: John Richards, M.A., AITP, Keisha Watson, Ph.D.
Reviewers: MCHB Evaluation Coordinating Committee, with guidance from James Resnick, M.H.S., U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and Lisa Wright-Solomon, MCHB; Holly Grason, M.S., Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Deborah Perry, Ph.D., Georgetown Center for Child and Human Development; Olivia Pickett, M.L.S., M.A., MCH Digital Library