Essays

......some thoughts on ....

Evaluation policy and the evaluation of policy

Quite a few organisations have established an evaluation policy. After a while it is a good idea to step back and consider whetehr it was a good policy or not, whether evaluation practice has become different, and if the policy has made a difference?

A policy ususally comes at a cost; time for reflection and decision-making, possibly costs for consultants to develop the policy, time and costs to print and communicate the policy. Could you get a policy for less than USD 50.000? Yes of course, but it is not uncommon that organisations spend much more than so on a policy. Is it worth the money?

What would characterise a "good" policy? I would suggest some few characteristics: that the policy has a clear purpose, that it is put to use, that something happens as a consequence, and that the overall purpose that led to the policy is actually reached.

How could then a policy be made useful? First, it must be a relatively brief text. There are some elements that the text must contain, at least when it is an evaluation policy: define evaluation, establish why the organisation evaluates, direct practical evaluation in terms of the major design alternatives (external/internal, participatory or not, varieties of design, approach to evidence, organisational framework, as well as budgets and other resources).

Too often, evaluation policies express general goodwill around evaluation, but they don't pinpoint or guide people on the choices they have to make when they evaluate. The prrof of the pudding is in the eating, and so with evaluation policy. If it is a good policy or not depends on whether it is used - for the better - in practice. Many evaluation policies are tasteless and hence add little of value.