Chapter 16 Blog Posting

“Generally speaking, evaluation is the process by which the needs to be addressed by the program, the nature of the program processes (formative evaluation), and the worth or outcomes (summative evaluation) of a program are determined” (Brown, 2012, p. 349). It is a harsh reality that we, as future counselors, will have to face that we will need to constantly defend the work we do, especially in the school systems. “Boards of education faced with decreasing budgets may wonder if the career development program is as worthwhile as a reading program or some other academic program” (Brown, 2012, p. 349-350). It seems as though academics will always win out over career development or other forms or personal development programs for students. I personally feel that these programs are just as, if not sometimes more, important than learning the foundational academics that we need to graduate from school. Of course it is important to learn to read, write, and do math; but if we do not have the tools to apply it in the real world what is it worth? Not every student is bound for college and we need to recognize that all students need applicable career planning to help them once they leave the comfort of the K-12 school program.

Evaluating career programs appears to be the best way to maintain a solid argument for keeping your program alive. One thing I find interesting is that at HACC we do a lot of student surveys to determine the effectiveness of certain classes or our overall approach to student services. All of our surveys were administered in person by a staff member and then mailed to two places. I found it interesting that Brown pointed out that “mailed surveys are expensive…costs can be reduced by using questionnaires that can be scored and the data collated by computer” (Brown, 2012, p. 354). I would also think that surveys that do not need to be proctored by a staff member could be a better solution to gather student data, especially in times of such financial restriction. There are also quite a few students who opt not to take the surveys that we administer because they simply do not want to, they do not see the value, etc. “One motivational technique that is probably underutilized is entering all respondents who wish to furnish their names and telephone numbers in a lottery and awarding a cash prize to the winner” (Brown, 2012, p. 354). Techniques such as those work and we have to gives students an incentive to participate in data collection efforts such as these.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development. (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.