Policy Evaluation and Analysis

Description: Policy evaluation and analysis produce evidence intended to influence policymaking.  Just as there are many types of evaluation, policy analysis is conducted in different ways and for different purposes.  One type of policy analysis--scientific policy analysis--has much in common with policy evaluation.  Both usually involve an independent assessment of the social problem that is to be addressed through government action and an assessment of the costs and consequences of relevant policy alternatives.  Another type of policy analysis is labeled professional and is intended to have more direct short-term influence on policy, often using data from previous evaluations and extrapolating results to a new setting.  Advocacy policy analysis selectively uses data to make a case for pre-determined policy position. 

This course will explore the types of policy analysis and the types of evaluation that are most likely to be influential in the policy process.  Participants will develop major components of a professional policy analysis and design a policy evaluation.  In addition, the class will focus on the development of a communication strategy for a policy evaluation. 

Text provided: Bardach, E.  2005 (2Ed). A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis , C Q Press.
 

Instructor: Dr. Gary T. Henry is the William Neil Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Most recently, he was professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University where he taught research and statistical analysis courses, and before that, served as the Director of the Applied Research Center at GSU. Henry has evaluated a variety of policies and programs, including Georgia 's Universal Pre-K, public information campaigns, and the HOPE Scholarship, as well as school reforms and accountability systems. He served as Director of Evaluation and Learning Services for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; and from 1993-2000 was the Director of the Georgia Council for School Performance. He is author of Practical Sampling (Sage 1990), Graphing Data (Sage 1995) and co-author of Evaluation: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies and Programs (Jossey-Bass 2000) ; and has published extensively in the field of evaluation and policy analysis. In addition, he served as deputy secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Virginia and chief methodologist with the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, Virginia General Assembly. He received the Evaluation of the Year Award from the American Evaluation Association in 1998 for his work with the Georgia 's Council for School Performance and the Joseph S. Wholey Distinguished Scholarship Award in 2001 from the American Society for Public Administration and the Center for Accountability and Performance.

Dates: July 25-26, 2008, Washington, DC

Certificates: CAEP IIA.f and CQEM III.L

Fee: $795