ABSTRACT
Managers who regularly review the practices and programmes in their setting will recognise that evaluation helps to develop practice and procedures in line with the vision of the setting. Managers need to think ahead, as well as look at what has happened before. Carrying out pieces of evaluation will enable a manager to do this in a structured and meaningful way. Carrying out formal evaluations helps managers to take a step back from routine operations and to think about the development of the service for children and families. It is important to remember that an evaluation is different to a review. Although both are valuable in their own right, they are in fact different processes with different objectives. There are many different models of the evaluation process. Depicting it as a circular process helps us to think about the importance of learning from reflection when carrying out any piece of evaluation work.
