ABSTRACT
This chapter examines program effectiveness as a particular aspect of agency operations, emphasising the programs themselves rather than the other aspects, such as finances and human resource management. Evaluation is an 'umbrella' or general term that covers many types of evaluation activity, including summative evaluation and formative evaluation. Monitoring generally refers to a process in which specified aspects of practice are routinely recorded and analysed, using a range of methods to identify, for example, trends in program operation. It is an assessment process and does not mean simply keeping statistics. A program in which workers were responsible for placing elderly clients in nursing homes had thought very carefully about the outcomes that the program was trying to achieve, and what workers should be doing to achieve those outcomes. The program logic also forms a crucial part of the planning of a program, and forms part of a more complete program description.
