Implementation Evaluation

Generally speaking, program evaluations fall into two complementary buckets: formative and summative. Summative evaluations look at the impact and effectiveness of a program (think testing, validating, etc.), while formative evaluations focus on improving the program’s design and performance. It’s considered good evaluation practice to use both, though in my opinion, formative should come before summative. In this context, an implementation evaluation (sometimes called process evaluation) falls into the formative category and is essential for understanding your program’s model and quality.