Our Evaluation Approach

• Utilization-focused
• Participatory
• Compliant with the standards and principals that define best practice in evaluation

Utilization-Focused Evaluation

Following the premises of Michael Quinn Patton (2008), our evaluations are designed to provide stakeholders with useful information that will assist them in programmatic decision-making. To increase the evaluation's utility, we strive to ensure that our information gathering, data analysis, and dissemination efforts are timely and relevant. Our clients can count on TEG to mobilize an evaluation plan in which data is collected, analyzed, and shared throughout the life-cycle of the program in a matter of weeks—not months.

Participatory Evaluation

At TEG, evaluation is something we do with our customers — not to them! This participatory approach encompasses every facet of the evaluation from inception to sustainability. Based on input from program stakeholders, the evaluator facilitates and directs the evaluation, working with the group to identify methods, design instruments, determine data collection protocols, and select reporting formats. Participation in the evaluation process affords clients more ownership, increasing the likelihood that results will be used to improve the program and ultimately, achieve positive outcomes.

Compliance with Standards and Principles

Our evaluations strictly adhere to the Program Evaluation Standards of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation

• Utility
• Propriety
• Feasibility
• Accuracy

In addition, we adhere to the Guiding Principles of the American Evaluation Association (AEA).

• Systematic Inquiry
• Integrity & Honesty
• Competence
• Respect for people
• Responsibilities for general and public welfare

For more information on evaluation standards and principles practiced by TEG, please visit:

• www.wmich.edu/evalctr/jc
• www.eval.org/Publication/GuidingPrinciples.asp