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For more than 20 years, practitioners and scholars in the school counseling field have advocated for the role and priority of program evaluation to support guidance and counseling programs (e.g., Fairchild & Seeley, 1995; Frith & Clark, 1982; Keene & Stewart, 1989). The benefits of sound program evaluation, which include program improvement, accountability data regarding student outcomes, and documentation of what counselors actually do in schools, continue to be compelling, particularly given the tenuous role school counselors have historically endured in the academic environment of schools (Baker, 2000). Yet, implementation of program evaluation activities by school counselors remains illusive (Bardo, Cody, & Bryson, 1978; Schaffer & Atkinson, 1983; Trevisan, 2000). These authors have argued that a lack of time and training as well as a mistrust of the evaluation process have prevented the school counseling field from embracing the potential of sound program evaluation.
The emergence of the comprehensive, developmental, guidance and counseling program (CDC) as a systematic means of integrating the work of school counselors into the school environment has reinforced the argument for sound program evaluation activities on the part of school counselors. In particular, since CDGC programs focus on student competencies and provide interventions, the program model "requires the support of continual program evaluation as part of an ongoing program development, renewal, and improvement process" (Trevisan, 2000, p. 2).
As the number of states adopting statewide CDGC implementation plans continues to rise (Sink & MacDonald, 1998), and local school districts respond with program development, the need for assistance in developing and implementing the evaluation component of these programs will also increase. In fact, given the historical problems in the school counseling field of effectively dealing with program evaluation, successful CDGC implementation may hinge on whether program evaluation capability is properly developed and implemented.
For the past three years the authors have been involved in a local school district CDGC program evaluation implementation project. The purpose of this article is to share important ideas that were learned about the challenges of implementing program evaluation infrastructure.
Given the emerging nature of CDGC programs, a codified, step-by-step plan for implementing the evaluation component is perhaps premature. Instead, this article focuses on four key lessons learned for effective implementation of the program evaluation component. No other...