Assess_Evaluate

Assessment and Evaluation

Purpose of Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment and Evaluation is a process to measure Learning and Development against set criteria and targets in order to understand the impact of the training event/s so that they can be reviewed and/or changed in order to complete a cycle of continuous improvement. That measure can be across the Organisation Level, The Operational Level and the Individual Level”

 To help in the evaluation of the criteria a ‘model’ will be used to make it easy to identify what should be evaluated and at what level.

 Evaluation Model used by Rubus Associates

The traditional model used within most organisations is that of Donald Kirkpatrick, (Kirkpatrick, D “Evaluating Training Programs” Berrett-Koehler Publishers 1998). 

Kirkpatrick’s original levels were –

1. Reaction

2. Learning

3. Behaviour

4. Results

Rubus Associates has amended those levels to suit business needs and requirements  by using a fifth level – Return on Investment, (Phillips, Jack “Return on Investment in Training & Performance Improvement Programs”, 1997) and a sixth level (Level Zero) as defined by Rubus Associates.

 Level 0 has been included to:

• Force organisations and Learning & Development functions to set measurable criteria for training events as part of the initial Needs Analysis.

• Ensure that future learning solutions are given tangible and business orientated criteria for measurement

• Influence the other functions within the business to set definable and measurable criteria for training solutions.

Level 5 has been included to ensure that any future L&D event carried out can have a defined impact on the Profit and Loss (P&L) account of the organisation. It is intended that Level 5 evaluation should only be carried out on major L&D programmes to justify the budgetary expense.

Therefore the Rubus Associates levels of Assessment ad Evaluation would look like -

• Level 0    Setting Evaluation Criteria

• Level 1    Reaction to Learning

• Level 2    Assessing that learning has taken place

• Level 3    Transfer of Learning into the workplace and coaching the required change of behaviour

• Level 4    Business results

• Level 5    Calculate the Return on Investment (ROI)