CDC’s Program Evaluation Journey: 1999 to Present

• Published in: Public health reports (1974) 2018-07, Vol.133 (4), p.356-359
• Main Authors: Kidder, Daniel P., Chapel, Thomas J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. - trends; Decision making; Executive; Executive Perspective; Government agencies; Humans; NGOs; Nongovernmental organizations; Program evaluation; Program Evaluation - methods; Program Evaluation - trends; Quality Improvement - organization & administration; Religious organizations; United States
• ISSN: 0033-3549; 1468-2877
• DOI: 10.1177/0033354918778034

In the past decade, government agencies, foundations, community- and faith-based organizations, and others have paid increasing attention to using evidence as a decision-making driver for their programs, with a focus on using evaluation and performance management data for program improvement. At the same time, converging factors have shifted perspectives about program monitoring and evaluation, from merely tolerating program monitoring and evaluation as necessary evils to embracing them as essential organizational practices. These factors can be traced to the mid-1990s and the National Partnership for Reinventing Government initiative, which advocated for an enhanced culture of accountability among government agencies. More recently, a series of developments further accelerated the use of program monitoring and evaluation, particularly within government agencies.In the United States, members of Congress, leaders of state governments, and other decision makers have sought to understand how performance management data can be used to monitor programs and identify when evaluations are appropriate. In this Executive Perspective, we, both health scientists and program evaluators at CDC, highlight the path that our agency has followed to foster the use of evaluation. Our intent is to identify evaluation practices and policies that other organizations can replicate, while also highlighting what we have learned about the challenges of using evaluation. We will describe evaluation at CDC, a federal agency, but the lessons we have learned may apply to any level of government or to any nongovernmental organization that wishes to improve its programs.