SW 512 Evaluation of Practice
Evaluation of Practice supports the program's emphasis on ethical and competent social work practice and the appropriate use of evidence-based practices, providing students with knowledge and skills needed to plan and implement evaluations that assess the fidelity, efficiency, and effectiveness of social work services and interventions. Topics covered the course include the role of evaluation research in social work practice, the role of the evaluator, ethical in evaluation research, use of needs assessments, development and use of logic models, measuring and assessing evidence, cost-benefit analyses, and translational research. The course will also introduce students to basic statistical procedures and other data analysis approaches commonly used in the evaluation of social work interventions and human service programs. An applied course, the main assignment will be the development of an evaluation plan for a community-based agency. The program evaluation plan will be developed incrementally over the course of the semester with students initially examining the history of the program, the role of the program in the larger agency and community service ecosystem, and any existing program evaluation activities. Students will then develop a logic model for the program, identifying short, medium, and long-term client-level outcomes and longer-term community impacts. Based on this logic model, students will then identify measures and data collection and data analysis strategies that will support the assessment of outcomes and, if possible, community-level program impacts.
Offered
Annual Spring Semester