SW 509 Program Evaluation in Social Work
This 3-credit course is designed to educate students about the basic
principles of program evaluation and prepare them with the knowledge and skills they need to evaluate social work services, programs, and agencies. Using case examples and their agency settings as laboratories, students will learn about three major types of evaluation—needs assessment, process, and outcome—including how to conduct them and the ways that each informs the other. Students will deepen their knowledge of social work program theory and design, with a specific focus on developing logic models, and have the opportunity to apply program evaluation principles to practice-level assessments.
Throughout the course, students will engage in critical discussion about the tensions, ambiguities, and potential for oppression that accompany current evaluation models and practices. Students will exit the course with the skills necessary to think evaluatively about every aspect of their practice, work collaboratively when engaging in evaluation activities, and apply an anti-oppressive and antiracist lens to those activities.