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Why evaluate or assess a program? Because if you spend time or money doing something, don’t you want to know if it was worth it? That sounds too simple, but really that’s all it’s about.
When we do things like eating or sleeping, we get pretty immediate feedback that it was worth it. And when we do other things like take a wrong turn trying to get to the shops when we’re in a hurry or drive over the speed limit where there’s a speed camera and definitely had other plans for how to spend the fine, we get feedback pretty quickly that those actions weren’t right and probably not worth it. That feedback usually encourages us to keep doing the things that are worth it and stops us from repeating the things that aren’t. When it comes to programs that serve people, sometimes lots of people, it’s harder to get that feedback. Why? Because people are complicated and diverse! And because determining ‘worth’ among a group of people isn’t as easy as determining ‘worth’ for one of us. Deciding if a program delivered to lots of people is worth it involves first figuring out what the desired outcomes are, then measuring the achievement of that outcome among all the people who were affected by the program, and then comparing the scale of the outcomes achieved to the costs of running the program.
CIRCA does program evaluation because we care how policies, programs, and initiatives affect the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culturally and linguistically diverse people across Australia, and because we want to help leaders across the country craft programs that empower diverse peoples. We’re a diverse group of researchers ourselves, here at CIRCA, who have the skills and capacity to do program evaluation. We do it so we can help leaders see if their programs are helping rejuvenate folks from diverse backgrounds or if their programs aren’t worth it for people from diverse backgrounds.