Design and implementation of a uniform Center-wide evaluation strategy using the Kirkpatrick Model

The University of North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (UNC CPHP) Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (PERLC) at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health designed and implemented a novel evaluation strategy to ensure application of a more uniform and consistent approach to evaluating Center-developed/delivered education and training programs. A main thrust of this new strategy is to collect more robust evaluation data for use in measuring both impact on individual learner behavior and organizational results ensuing from participation in Center-sponsored education and training programs. A key component of the strategy focuses on the development of a standardized evaluation question bank, in which questions are organized based upon their relevance to each of the levels of the Kirkpatrick Four Level^TM Evaluation Model. The question bank was populated by conducting a thorough review of a compilation of existing instruments used by the Center for education and training program evaluation and a literature review of relevant evaluation instruments. Each question was categorized according to the level where it best fits within the Kirkpatrick Model, thus grouping questions into 4 general types: reaction-based, learning-based, behavior-based, and results-based. Within each of the 4 categories, questions were further stratified into subcategories, resulting in a user-friendly tool for developing new evaluation instruments. The question bank streamlines UNC CPHP's overall evaluation strategy by encouraging incorporation of standardized questions into individual evaluation instruments, in turn fostering improved and increased ability to demonstrate impact across multiple education and training programs.