PUBPOL 5360

Program Evaluation for Community Organizations

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

This course serves as an introduction to the principles and practice of collaborative program evaluation for community-based organizations. This is an applied research methods course in which students will learn how to develop frameworks and tools that help small and mid-sized nonprofits and NGOs answer the question: Is our program working? and/or how can our program be improved? This course is part conceptual and part applied, teaching students critical thinking for evaluation and practical skills in M&E planning and evaluation design. During the semester students will work with a community development organization in a consultancy project to design and present an evaluation plan for use in a real practice setting. ALL students will produce a rigorous non-experimental evaluation design for a local practice-partner organization or ‘client.’ Client organizations are recruited from a variety of sectors including education, health, and the environment, and include both domestic (US-based) and international NGOs. This is an intensive field-based engaged course that requires substantial collaborative group work.

Exploratory Studies (CU-CEL)

Last 3 terms offered 2025SP, 2023FA, 2023SP

Learning Outcomes REF-FA25

• Describe different epistemological approaches to evaluation practice, and the practical applications of these approaches for organizational problem-solving.
• Distinguish between evaluation types, and identify the practical and methodological difference between experimental versus nonexperimental approaches to evaluation and when each are appropriate.
• Assess the strengths, limitations and rigor, of diverse non-experimental evaluation designs.
• Design a rigorous non-experimental evaluation and associated tools including: surveys, interview guides, sampling strategies, results frameworks, and theories of change.
• Apply advanced written and oral communication skills to the management of professional relationships.
• Apply evaluative thinking skills to solve complex organizational problems.

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