Evaluation Purpose Statement Builder

Module 1 Interactive Activity

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Define Focus CLEAR Framework Draft Statement

Step 1: Define the Focus of Your Evaluation

Why this matters

Evaluation is most powerful when it has a clear and narrow focus. Programs have many components. You cannot evaluate everything at once. This step helps you choose one specific part of your program to explore in this course.

How to choose your focus

Use these four rules when deciding what part of your program to evaluate this year:

1. Linked to real decisions

Choose a component where leadership, faculty, or staff must make a decision in the next year.

2. Highest uncertainty

Choose the part of the program you understand the least and where assumptions are driving choices.

3. Highest impact

Choose the area where new insight would change strategy, priorities, or student experience.

4. Feasible to study

Choose something that can realistically be examined with the time and evidence you have.

Reflection Prompts

  • What decision about your program keeps coming up in meetings?
  • Where do you feel you are “guessing” instead of using evidence?
  • Which component would most benefit from clearer understanding?
  • What is realistic to study within this course timeframe?
  • Which focus would give you insight you can use next planning cycle?

Examples of well-scoped evaluation focuses

  • First-year advising meetings for students on academic probation
  • The new online orientation module for incoming transfer students
  • Peer mentoring drop-in hours in one residence hall
  • The implementation of a common Canvas course shell in gateway courses

Write it here:

This is a one-line summary of what you want to understand. It is a working title, not a formal evaluation type.
Name the specific component or slice of your program that you will evaluate in this course.

Step 2: Work Through the CLEAR Framework

BEFORE YOU START CLEAR

Your responses in Step 2 must directly relate to the specific program component you named in Step 1.

Rule: Each CLEAR element should answer a question about that one component, not about your entire program or department.

Example: If Step 1 selected “First-year advising meetings,” every CLEAR element must relate specifically to those meetings, not to the whole first-year experience.

C CONTEXT

Why are we evaluating this specific component now?

Your context should explain the conditions, pressures, or changes that affect the component you selected.

Prompts to guide your thinking

  • What changed recently related to this component?
  • What concerns or patterns relate specifically to this component?
  • What external pressures or internal requirements make it important to study this now?
  • What triggered the need to understand this area better?
  • What risks exist if this component is not evaluated now?

Correct Alignment Example

Evaluation Focus: Early experience of the new advising model
Component: First-year advising meetings
Correct Context:

"Advisors adopted a new advising model this fall, but we do not know how consistently it is being used or whether students are experiencing the intended structure and support."

Incorrect Alignment Example

"Enrollment in the major has been declining, and the curriculum may need redesign. We want to evaluate whether students are satisfied with the program."

Why this is wrong: This is too broad and unrelated to the specific advising meetings component.

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L LEARNING GOALS

What do we need to understand about this specific component?

Learning goals must connect directly to the component you selected. Avoid general questions about the entire program.

Prompts to guide your thinking

  • What uncertainties exist about this component?
  • What assumptions are we making here without evidence?
  • What do we need to understand to improve or make decisions about this component?
  • What specific outcomes or experiences tied to this component are unclear?

Correct Alignment Example

Evaluation Focus: Student experience of online orientation
Component: Online orientation module
Correct Learning Goals:

"We need to know whether students find the online orientation helpful and whether it prepares them to navigate campus resources before the semester starts."

Incorrect Alignment Example

"We need to understand why students are not completing the major and whether our upper-division courses are too difficult."

Why this is wrong: This learning goal has nothing to do with the online orientation component.

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E EVIDENCE NEEDED

What information will help answer your learning goals for this component?

Evidence must be tied directly to the component. Avoid listing data sources that belong to different parts of the program.

Prompts to guide your thinking

  • What evidence will directly answer the learning questions you wrote?
  • What data already exist about this component?
  • What additional evidence is feasible to collect in the short term?
  • What signals or indicators relate specifically to this component?
  • What qualitative or quantitative evidence would illuminate how this component works?

Correct Alignment Example

Evaluation Focus: How consistently instructors use the common course shell
Component: Use of common course shell
Correct Evidence:

  • Reviews of Canvas shell usage
  • Instructor checklists
  • Sample modules
  • Student access logs
  • Short faculty interviews about fidelity

Incorrect Alignment Example

  • Retention data across the major
  • NSSE scores
  • Financial aid usage

Why this is wrong: These sources do not relate to the course shell component.

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A AUDIENCE + USE

Who will use the findings about this component, and how?

Your audience should be the individuals responsible for decisions about the selected component, not everyone connected to the program.

Prompts to guide your thinking

  • Who is responsible for this component?
  • Who needs insight to make decisions about it?
  • Who requested this evaluation or raised concerns?
  • Who will act on the evidence?
  • Who would benefit from understanding this area better?

Correct Alignment Example

Evaluation Focus: Student experience in the first-year seminar
Component: First-year seminar course
Correct Audience:

  • Seminar coordinator
  • Instructors for all sections
  • Director of first-year programs

Incorrect Alignment Example

"Provost, entire faculty senate, external accreditors."

Why this is wrong: This audience is too broad and disconnected from the specific seminar component.

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R REQUIRED DECISIONS

What decisions will the evaluation help make about this component?

Required decisions should be directly tied to the selected component and realistic within the next 6–12 months.

Prompts to guide your thinking

  • What decisions must be made about this component this year?
  • What decisions cannot be made without evidence?
  • What decisions would become clearer with insight?
  • What changes or improvements might be needed?
  • What risks do we face if we make decisions without evidence?

Correct Alignment Example

Evaluation Focus: Whether to continue the peer mentoring pilot
Component: Peer mentoring pilot
Correct Required Decisions:

  • Whether to scale the pilot
  • Whether to train more mentors
  • Whether to revise the mentor training curriculum

Incorrect Alignment Example

"Whether to redesign the entire major curriculum."

Why this is wrong: This decision does not relate to the mentoring pilot component.

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FINAL NOTE ON ALIGNMENT

Each CLEAR element must stay tightly connected to the same program component you named in Step 1. Before moving to Step 3, review your responses and ensure they all point to that one component.

Step 3: Draft Your Evaluation Purpose Statement

Why this matters

This statement becomes the north star for your evaluation. It guides what you measure, how you interpret findings, and what decisions you make. A strong purpose statement is clear, specific, and directly tied to action.

Your Statement Preview

Complete the CLEAR framework components in Step 2 to see your statement preview here.

Edit Your Statement

The preview above is automatically generated from your CLEAR responses. You can refine it below to improve clarity and flow.

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Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, ensure your statement:

  • Names the specific program component being evaluated
  • Clearly states what you need to learn about that component
  • Identifies the audience who will use the findings
  • Names concrete decisions that will be informed by evidence
  • Stays focused on that one component throughout

Export Your Work

Save your completed evaluation purpose statement and all supporting work:

Progress saved