Page Revision: 9/7/2016 12:04:59 PM
Training Program Evaluation
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Attend OPM's FED Evalu-Con 2016 on Monday, September 26th!
Federal Employee Development Evaluation Conference (FED Evalu-Con) is hosted by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and will showcase training sessions on effective and innovative program evaluation practices and tools. This event will provide attendees with an opportunity to increase program evaluation capacity. The event will also facilitate networking between evaluators of training and other types of evaluation programs, making the Federal evaluator community more cohesive and collaborative.
Registration is FULL for FED Evalu-Con 2016, however, you can join the event waitlist at:
http://evalu-con2016.eventbrite.com.
Event session topics include:
- Logic Models
- Developing Evaluation Plans
- Obtaining Vendor Support
- Data Collection
- Outcome Harvesting
- Asking the Right Evaluation Questions
- Making Meaningful Recommendations
- Data Visualization
- and more!
What Is Training Program Evaluation?
Training program evaluation is a continual and systematic process of assessing the value or potential value of a training program. Results of the evaluation are used to guide decision-making around various components of the training (e.g. instructional design, delivery, results) and its overall continuation, modification, or elimination.
To assist agencies in evaluating their training programs, OPM published the 2011 OPM Training Evaluation Field Guide. The Training Evaluation Field Guide is designed to assist agency training representatives (i.e., training managers and supervisors, training liaisons/coordinators, agency evaluators, instructional designers, training facilitators and others who have a significant role in training effectiveness) in evaluating training effectiveness and in demonstrating training value to stakeholders and decision makers. Data and information were gathered from fifteen federal agency representatives who volunteered their time to attend a one-day working meeting, participate in individual interviews and submit samples of their tools and case studies. This Field Guide reflects the input from the working group. The OPM Training Evaluation Field Guide Supplement is an abbreviated version of the OPM Training Evaluation Field Guide.
SEMINAR MATERIALS for OPM Seminar on Evaluating Leadership Development Programs—Easing into Levels 3 & 4
View this quick video for more information on the training evaluation field guide and ways agencies can use evaluation and training data to inform decisions related to training investments.
Logic models are very easy tools to help you plan and evaluate your training program. A logic model provides a representation of a "theory of change" (if...then) that clearly aligns the training inputs and activities to the outputs and results. Logic models are created in the planning phase and can be completed for programs, initiatives, individual courses, events and activities. There is an important distinction between training program evaluation and training evaluation. Training program evaluation examines the entire program including the training component, while training evaluation is assessment of the training course, process, or component within a program. For example, the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program (SESCDP) involves a recruitment, selection and certification process. These processes, in addition to the required 80 hours of training and 4-month developmental assignment, should also be consistently monitored and evaluated to determine progress and areas of improvement. All processes within the program contribute to program success or failure, yet all processes are not "training". Knowledge, understanding and skill in program evaluation in necessary to effectively evaluate training and development programs.
Contact us at SESDevelopment@opm.gov if you would like training
on how to use the OPM Training Evaluation Field Guide and/or Logic Models
in your agency.
For more detailed information on logic models, you can watch this video or take EPA's FREE Logic Modeling Course.
Agencies are required to evaluate their training programs annually to determine how well such plans and programs contribute to mission accomplishment and meet organizational performance goals (5 CFR 410.202). The law authorizes OPM to require Federal agencies to report training data (Example: Sample Agency Training Report FY2010). An important part of the evaluation process involves consideration of training costs, and other elements not directly addressed in the typical evaluation. Agencies must track and report accurate training data on all completed training events to OPM as prescribed by the Final Rule on Training Reporting Requirements, published on May 17, 2006, in the Federal Register, The Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-411).
Agencies can reference the Guide for Collection and Management of Training Information for detailed information on reporting training data.