Evaluating Tutor Training

Why evaluate training?
Evaluation is a tool for making decisions, assessing quality, and ensuring future success in reaching program goals. Most organizations, including the Corporation for National and Community Service, value careful evaluation as part of the process of continuous program improvement. Incorporating program, trainer, and participant (self-) evaluation into training provides valuable feedback that can help programs identify what’s working, what isn’t, and where to go next.

Training evaluation can provide:

• Useful insight for improving the quality and effectiveness of future sessions
• Opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback and professional development
• Validation of or challenge to trainers' instincts regarding efficacy of methods and materials
• Confirmation of the importance of participants' opinions
• Information for programs on future training needs
• Data to report on program and volunteer development

Approaches to training evaluation
Within programs, evaluation of tutor training can take place immediately after training, in weekly meetings, during follow-up phone conversations, and in a variety of other forms, including:

• Written evaluations
• Reflection activities
• Informal questions, feedback, and discussion
• Pre- and post-session "tests" of participant skills or knowledge
• Self-assessment checklists

Satisfaction v. impact
Evaluation of tutor training should function on multiple levels, and a distinction should be made between satisfaction and impact. Good evaluation tells you how participants rate the quality of the training, but also whether or not they are learning and using the material presented.

Evaluating participant satisfaction through a written feedback form or a structured reflection activity will tell the trainer and/or program staff whether or not participants liked what they did and how they did it, and whether they found it relevant to their work as volunteer tutors. This can also include feedback on materials, facilities, specific activities, etc. Generally, feedback on participant satisfaction is immediate and easy to gather.

Evaluating the impact of training is more difficult. One way to evaluate impact is to measure whether and to what degree participants learned the new skills and strategies presented in the workshop. This can be accomplished through role-plays or games that require use of the skills presented, or by observing tutoring sessions. It is important to emphasize that such activities are not meant to “test” tutors, but rather to determine whether the training has been successful in conveying the intended knowledge and skills; adequate practice in a supportive environment is key to ensuring that tutor training has its desired impact. (Indeed, practice is an important part of a good training session.)

Programs also need to evaluate the long-term impact of training, which includes learning how, and to what degree, tutors actually use new skills and strategies in practice, and how those practices support overall program goals. While more difficult to capture, this information can be gathered through follow-up surveys, action plans, or ongoing reflection activities such as journals or discussion meetings. These tools can provide programs with valuable information about training transfer and the subsequent use of materials and strategies presented.

Evaluation design
Deciding how evaluation will fit into a training plan or session should be part of the initial planning process. By considering all learning styles and integrating evaluation methods and tools into training design, programs can ensure that the feedback they receive provides the most complete picture possible.

The following steps can guide training evaluation design:

• Agree on what your program hopes to learn from the evaluation and why.
• Review program objectives and desired training outcomes.
• Distinguish outcome-focused evaluation (were objectives met and outcomes achieved?) and quality assessment (were participants pleased with training design and delivery?).
• Consider the kinds of feedback you will need in order to determine whether training approaches or content need immediate revision.
• Consider methods that might be used to evaluate the long-term impact and value of the training.
• Create a plan for reviewing and aggregating evaluation results, identifying situations requiring discussion or action, and sharing this information with trainers and other staff to improve future sessions.

(Adapted from Starting Strong: A Guide To Pre-Service Training)