The main assignment will involve a critique of an evaluation plan for a public health initiative. This assignment is designed to provide students with a real-life experience of working with community groups to develop an evaluation. Since this is a mini-semester I have attached a copy of an evaluation report for a health initiative. Papers should be no longer than 5 pages (double-spaced except for tables/figures), not including references. Concise writing is important.

This assignment will include the following pieces:

1.Title Page

2. Overview: Description of initiative/program/organization, aims of program, aims and uses of evaluation. (1/2 page)

3. Problem background/Justification based on literature review and community/needs assessment. What does the scientific literature say about the problem being addressed and the intervention strategies being used? Include relevant citations. Did you conduct any type of community/needs assessment or have others done an assessment? Describe what was done and what was learned. What else would you have liked to see done in a community/needs assessment? Could this still be done? If so, make some recommendations for the organization. Address why the initiative is needed. Is it addressing a problem of public health concern? Are limited programs available? Why is this evaluation needed? (1 page)

4. Initiative/program background: Describe the initiative being evaluated. What are the objectives of the initiative? Are they clearly described and if not, indicate how you have (or would like to) modify them. Describe the theoretical framework guiding the initiative. Provide a description of the actual initiative. Use a mixture of text and figures/tables. (1 page)

5. Evaluation/Assesment plan Provide an overview of the evaluation plan. Indicate the aims of the evaluation, the stages of evaluation (e.g., process, impact) if only a piece of a larger program is being evaluated, who the stakeholders are and how they have been involved, and any other information to introduce the evaluation plan. Indicate what type of evaluation design (e.g, quasi- experimental, pre-post-post design with assessments at baseline, upon completion of initiative, and at 3 months follow-up) is being used and why this design was chosen. Describe the sample and justify why these individuals and the number of participants was selected. It is optional to include a statistical justification for your sample size. Include a description of the process evaluation to be implemented and its components. Include both qualitative and quantitative components and describe. Indicate why it is important (or not) to place a large emphasis on the process evaluation. (1 page)

6) Outcome & Summary (1/2 page)

Include a description of impact/outcome evaluation to be implemented and its components.