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Summative and Formative Program Evaluation

Comparison and contrast of the approaches taken in program evaluation design and

implementation

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Summative and Formative Program Evaluation

Comparison of Summative and formative program evaluation

There are two different types of program evaluation approaches summative and

formative approaches. Formative program evaluation is usually applied in the development

and improvement of the program whereas summative evaluation is done in making judgments

at the end of the program (Montrosse, 2008). Formative evaluation is important in defining

where improvements are needed within the program while summative evaluation is used to

determine the effectiveness of the full program to help decide whether to continue, expand or

drop the program.

The formative evaluation ensures that the program processes follow the specified plan

as they help assess the program goals and recommend where improvements are needed in the

program. With summative evaluation, it is necessary to document processes in the program

and allow decisions to ensure overall effectiveness. The people responsible for formative

evaluation are the program director and program staff while in summative the people in

charge are those responsible for allocating program resources and groups that are concerned

with the effectiveness of the program (Montrosse, 2008). Formative evaluation is done

throughout the program while summative is done at the end of the program. In the program

implementation, formative evaluation helps in assessing the staff’s ability to achieve the set

goals and objectives. This type of evaluation uses the monitoring technique. Summative

evaluation occurs after the running of the program and at this stage, no changes will be made

to the program. It measures the attainment of the goals and whether there are unplanned

occurrences during the program such as increased taxes for the personnel. Unlike formative

evaluation, the summative evaluation does not allow the staff to make changes to the program

cycle and therefore does not interfere with the program. The summative evaluation is released
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Summative and Formative Program Evaluation

to the people that funded the program and those that ensure the effectiveness of the program

just like the corporates and the funders (Montrosse, 2008).

Recommended Program approach.

In my opinion, I recommend that you use formative evaluation. Formative

evaluation will help you in identifying why a program does not work out and this will

necessitate corrective measures for a successful program. Formative assessment will help you

in behavior change during a program and will ensure the instant reaction to emergent

activities that could hinder the implementation of the program at hand. It will enhance the

implementation of the program. Therefore, the formative evaluation will ensure continuous

improvement of the program, ensure successful outcomes, and plan for the future of the

program. Formative evaluation will help you in the setting up of goals and plans as it will

help you to document every course of action. An example is a solar project. In the

implementation of a solar project, there is a need to have specified program activities that

include installation of purlins, ensuring aesthetics are followed, and installation of solar

panels and cabling. Each of those steps will be dependent on the other, for instance, if the

purlins are not well structured, the installation of the panels will be troublesome. In this case,

formative program evaluation will ensure instant feedback to offer corrective measures to the

program, more so in the case, that one stage of implementation is dependent on the next step.

In the solar installation, if purlins are not well structured, the solar panels may not fit in their

allocated spaces and this will affect the outcome of the program if not rectified.
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Summative and Formative Program Evaluation

References

Montrosse, B. (2008). Book Review: The ABCs of Evaluation: Timeless Techniques for

Program and Project Managers (2nd ed.), by John Boulmetis and Phyllis Dutwin. San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005. American Journal Of Evaluation, 29(1), 113-116.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214007313388