Picking Your Program/Agency: Headstart Dallas County
Picking Your Program/Agency: Headstart Dallas County – you will use websites and publicly available reports to learn about the program.
Guidelines for the Written Proposal: the proposal should be organized into the following sections. The bullet points below each section are just guides (not requirements) for the information expected in each section. The specific details of what is included in each section will vary based on the type of evaluation you are proposing.
Statement of the Problem:
- What community/social problem or need is the program addressing?
- Describe what is known about the problem using peer reviewed literature and publicly available data, such as county, state, or federal government sources.
- Describe the problem, if possible, for the program’s catchment area – i.e., if the program serves Tarrant County, use data at the county level (if available) to describe the problem.
Describe the Agency and its Program
- What kind of agency is it and what is its history? What geographic area does it serve?
- What kinds of services does it offer and to what client groups?
- What service or program is the focus of your evaluation? How is that service/program delivered and to whom?
Literature Review
A literature review is a summary of previous research relevant to your evaluation. Your literature review should rely on 5-10 peer reviewed journal articles found through Google Scholar and UTA\\\’s library databases. The information included in your literature review will vary depending on the kind of evaluation you are proposing.
Evaluation Design and Methods
- What kind of evaluation are you doing? If combing types, be clear about that and have research questions relevant to each type.
- What research question(s) is your evaluation designed to answer?
- Describe in detail how you will conduct the evaluation.
- Are you using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods?
- What data will you collect, from who, how, and how often? Will this include public data sources, such as census or county data? Will this include data you need to request from the agency, such as case notes or administrative records?
- Will you need a sampling plan? What will it be?
Strengths and Limitations
- What are the strengths of your study design? What makes it an appropriate approach for answering your research questions?
- Will the data you are collecting/using be sufficient for answering your research questions?
- What threats are you concerned about and how (if possible) will you address them?
- What are the limitations of your study design? What will it NOT be able to tell you?
Dissemination
- Who will be interested in your study findings?
- How will you share your findings? Be creative. Consider dissemination strategies, such as written reports, fact sheets, press releases, social media campaigns, info graphics, presentations, videos, etc.
Implications
- What is the value of this study? How might the program use its findings?
References and Overall Quality
Your proposal should be well organized, clearly presented, and professionally written. A title page and reference list following current APA guidelines must be included.
GUIDELINES
Insert your guidelines here. Guidelines could include:
- Logistics/Submission Format – Papers should be 10-12 pages using 12-pt Times New Roman font, double-spacing, and 1-inch margins. The title page, in-text citations, and reference list must adhere to APA 7th edition standards. Title page and reference list do not count towards page length.
Requirements: 10 pages
Answer preview to Picking Your Program/Agency: Headstart Dallas County
APA
3121 words