March 29th, 2022 
Discussion: How to Engage All Stakeholders in Program Evaluation
Stakeholder involvement and buy-in are arguably among the most important aspects of program evaluation. Without involvement and buy-in, evaluation efforts will fall short of its goals as comprehensive data collection will be invalid, or even worse, unobtainable.
What can you do as a leader to not only engage all stakeholders, but to help them to understand the importance of their active involvement?
In this Discussion, you revisit the in-service training at Connor Street Early Childhood Program.
The stakeholder discussion had been a lively one, and by the end, Sabrina and her colleagues were able to use the unique traits of each stakeholder group to create brief profiles:
Stakeholders | Profiles |
Teachers | Teachers are new to the formal evaluation process. Children's academic and social-emotional developmental areas are primary drivers. Assessments and data collection are already taking up a lot of time and there is much fear about how to juggle more evaluations. |
Families | Family dynamics have changed over the last few years with many new families moving into the area. English is the second language for many heads-of-households. Kindergarten readiness and safe places to play are primary drivers. Almost all families work long days outside of the home. |
Support Staff | The home-based manager splits her time with three other programs in the community. She checks in with Connor Street’s home-school liaison once a week. Her primary concerns are the monthly averages of home visit numbers and length of time spent at homes. The health assistant assumes multiple responsibilities throughout the day. She runs the clinic, tending to hurt or sick children, fills in at the front office when needed, and also counsels children who come to school upset. Once a year, she performs vision and hearing screening on each child who attends the program. Children’s health and well-being are her primary drivers. |
Accrediting Agency | Accrediting agencies hold all programs accountable for achieving quality standards. The provision of educational and developmental services and resources are primary drivers. |
Community | The community consists of working class and low-income families. Mainly residential, the community holds a handful of free events throughout the year such as movies on the lawn, fairs, and holiday celebrations. Though the community wants to give more, the lack of established businesses in the area negatively impacts the ability to hold fundraisers or food drives. |
To prepare
Watch the media presentations in which presenters share how stakeholders were impacted by accreditation and evaluation processes. Then—with the Connor Street scenario in mind—review "Chapter 36, Section 3" and "Chapter 27, Section 1" of the Community Tool Box series. Though written in a community health context, consider how the interests and needs of all stakeholders are considered when designing and implementing evaluations. As an early childhood leader, how can you build upon this best practice to engage early childhood professionals, staff, and families in the evaluation process? Furthermore, how might you ensure that engagement efforts are culturally and linguistically responsive?
By Day 3 of Week 5
Post the following: Briefly explain how you might engage each of the stakeholder groups presented in the scenario. Then, explain which stakeholder groups might be the most difficult to engage and why. Describe potential barriers that might prevent effective engagement. Support your response with in-text citations and references from the required readings and viewings by following the APA style guide.
Read selections of your colleagues' postings.
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