Introduction
High quality program evaluations begin with and follow a clear and comprehensive plan. This Program Evaluation Planning Checklist can help social service organizations consider and track twelve key elements associated with planning for an evaluation. The guidance is widely applicable to any organizations with plans to conduct an evaluation of their program or services. It is a resource to guide discussions and decisions to consider in collaboration with an evaluation partner during the planning for and initiation of evaluation activities. It can be used as a guide to finalize evaluation plans or as a tool for refining plans for evaluations that have already started.
The resource was developed through the PLESD Project that supports the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grantees in conducting local evaluations to improve programming and to generate evidence of effective approaches for preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents.
Purpose
The Program Evaluation Planning Checklist is designed to support social service organizations in planning for program evaluations. This resource is intended to be useful to anyone interested in planning, designing, or implementing a high-quality program evaluation, whether it be a rigorous RCT or QED, or a more descriptive study such as a process evaluation or implementation study.
Key Findings and Highlights
All evaluation designs must take into consideration the specific context of the program being evaluated, its settings, its populations, and the local community context and needs. Organizations should select the type of evaluation design that best suits their program needs, capacity, and resources.
The guidance included in this resource can be applied to all types of evaluation designs. However, impact evaluations come with some unique considerations and requirements that are discussed throughout the checklist.
The checklist covers topics from establishing and communicating evaluation team roles and responsibilities to establishing evaluation research questions and planning for collecting and analyzing data to inform those research questions.
Citation
Scott, M.E., Cook, E., Blocklin, M., and Freiman, L. (2025). Program Evaluation Planning Checklist. OPRE Report 2025-028, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services.
Related Publications
Blocklin, M., Yadav, L., Juras, R., Harvill, E., Lantos, H., Parekh, J., and Boven, J. (2025). Building a Body of Research on Innovative Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Programming: A Compilation of PREIS Evaluation Plan Abstracts. OPRE Report 2025-027, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services.
Blocklin, M., Yadav, L., Lincoln, C., Pourier, J., Kao, K., and Boven, J. (2025). Building an Understanding of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Programming for Indigenous Youth: A Compilation of Tribal PREP Evaluation Plan Abstracts. OPRE Report 2025-026, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services.
Gordon, H.S.J., Ayoub, C., Grant, J., and Blocklin, M. (2024). Engaging Indigenous Populations in Evaluation through Indigenous Methodologies. OPRE and FYSB Report 2024-180, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services.
Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) Local Evaluation Support and Dissemination. (n.d.). Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/personal-responsibility-education-program-prep-local-evaluation-support-and
Glossary
- ACF:
- Administration for Children and Families
- OPRE:
- Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
- FYSB:
- Family and Youth Services Bureau
- PREP:
- Personal Responsibility Education Program
- PLESD:
- PREP Local Evaluation Support and Dissemination
- RCT:
- Randomized controlled trial
- QED:
- Quasi-experimental design