Roadmap for State Program Planning: Develop Plans

• State HDSP Plan
• HDSP Work Plan
• HDSP Evaluation Plan

Develop a HDSP Evaluation Plan
Introduction

According to the 2007 Program Announcement both Capacity Building (CB) and Basic Implementation (BI) states are encouraged to include an HDSP Evaluation Plan as part of their application. The purpose of this section is to ensure evaluation is an integral part of HDSP program implementation.

Your evaluation should focus on two elements of your HDSP Work Plan, the development and implementation processes of the plan and achieving the HDSP Work Plan objectives.

The HDSP Evaluation Plan should also—

• Measure the extent to which capacity building activities have been accomplished (Capacity Building and Basic Implementation states).
• Demonstrate how interventions will be evaluated, including both process and outcome indicators as appropriate and follow up activities (Basic Implementation states only).

What to Do

This section of the Roadmap is based on the HDSP Evaluation Guide, Developing an Evaluation Plan, which was written to help states and their partners think through the process of planning their evaluation activities.

The HDSP Evaluation Plan should be based on the program objectives as outlined in the HDSP Work Plan and should provide an approach for assessing if and how the objectives were achieved. Just as the HDSP Work Plan provides guidance for implementing an HDSP program, the Evaluation Plan provides a blueprint for evaluating program activities. This plan is a fluid document that will change based on budget, resources, HDSP Work Plan objectives, accomplishments, and expectations.

An HDSP Evaluation Plan should be developed to include—

1. Process evaluation measures that focus on quality and implementation of capacity building activities and interventions;
2. Outcome evaluation measures that concentrate on assessing the achievement of expected outcomes of capacity building activities and interventions.

The HDSP Evaluation Plan should be developed in conjunction with the HDSP Work Plan. This will help you think about the process of evaluation and encourage you to monitor and assess your program's implementation from the beginning. Additionally, as the program or intervention budget is planned, evaluation costs can be estimated and included.

The HDSP Evaluation Plan can be developed as either a Consolidated Evaluation Plan, that summarizes all HDSP process and outcome evaluation activities or as an Integrated Evaluation Plan that integrates the evaluation activities into the HDSP Work Plan.

Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 of the evaluation guide provide guidance for formatting your HDSP evaluation plan as either a Consolidated Evaluation Plan or as an Integrated Evaluation Plan. Templates for both types of evaluation plans are also available as MS Word documents from your CDC Project Officer.

How to Do It

The foundation of your program HDSP Evaluation Plan is your HDSP Work Plan, which should contain clear objectives that are attainable and written in the SMART format and a well-defined set of activities that systematically leads to achieving your objectives.

Examples showing the step by step HDSP Evaluation Plan development process are listed below. The Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program Evaluation Guide, Developing an HDSP Evaluation Plan will provide greater detail for each of the eight steps listed.

• Step 1: Develop Evaluation Questions
  This step includes a table of questions that could be asked to measure success in achieving the example SMART objective.
  
• Step 2: Determine Indicators
  This step includes a table that lists several indicators describing the type of data needed to measure success in achieving the example SMART objective.
  
• Step 3: Identify Data Sources
  This step includes a table that lists data sources needed to answer the evaluation questions and relate to the indicators chosen for the example SMART objective.
  
• Step 4: Determine Data Collection Method
  This step includes a table that lists both qualitative and quantitative collection methods for the data needed to measure success in achieving the example SMART objective.
  
• Step 5: Specify Time Frame for Data Collection
  This step includes showing time frames for collecting the different types of data for this example is provided.
  
• Step 6: Plan Data Analysis
  This step includes showing how the data will be analyzed for this example SMART objective is provided.
  
• Step 7: Communicate Results
  This step includes a table that shows to whom the evaluation results will be communicated and how the communication will take place.
  
• Step 8: Designate Staff Responsibility
  This step includes identifying key staff and partners responsible for carrying out the evaluation.

Evaluation Budget

The evaluation planning stage is a good time to develop an evaluation budget. As with program budgeting, estimating budget items for evaluation activities can be a little difficult. A checklist is provided in Appendix 3 of the evaluation guide to assist evaluators and others in thinking through the many expenses that should be considered when developing an evaluation budget. See the checklist for resources to help with budgeting.

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