At a glance
Post training, refer to the evaluation strategy, which you designed earlier in the process, to evaluate your cadre.
How it works
Periodically review your evaluation strategy to:
- Revisit your team's (cadre's) mission, vision, and goals.
- Note the progress your cadre has made toward the stated goals.
- Decide on adjustments that may be needed.
- Communicate the results to your cadre.
- Work with cadre members to make changes in scope or direction.
You can use or adapt sample evaluation forms for your specific needs.
Emphasis of Evaluation
Evaluate offerings
Evaluation framework
As your training cadre evaluates its PD offerings, you will want to measure:
- Participants' reactions.
- Participants' learning.
- Organizational support and change.
- Participants' use of new knowledge and skills.
- Outcomes.
Refer to the Professional Development Evaluation Framework for guidance.
Communicate regularly
Regardless of evaluation outcomes, it is crucial to share the results with the cadre. You can lead the cadre in a discussion comparing actual results with your original mission, vision, goals, and objectives.
It is also important to update members on changes and emerging trends. This will sustain the team's ongoing efforts. In addition, share with the cadre any plans you have for follow-up support.
Member self-evaluation
Promote self-reflection
Feedback from evaluation is important for growth and improvement. Evaluate how you are doing as a team; however, cadre members should also evaluate themselves individually. Use the evaluation checklists and forms to aid your evaluation efforts.
Self-observation is even more effective than feedback from external sources. The practice of reflecting on our own experiences and effectiveness helps enhance our expertise.
Some ways to incorporate self-reflection within the training cadre include:
- Leader: Consider limiting verbal feedback as a part of coaching your team—to avoid adopting a supervisory tone.
- Group: Provide feedback to fellow cadre members.
- Individual: Use conversational self-reflection tools that elicit reflective responses.
- Provide a safe environment to reflect.
- Provide a conversational template to guide self-reflection.
- Mediate questions that invite the discovery of insights.
- Ask open-ended questions that are nonjudgmental and focused on self-directed learning.
Promote skill-building
Your evaluation processes may have identified development needs within the cadre itself. At this point, consider your evaluation results. Then decide if your cadre requires any skill-building training or other types of support to build capacity.
Need for skill-building can be based on:
- Results of the evaluation.
- A revisit of the inventory tool, How Strong Is Your Professional Development Infrastructure?
- A needs assessment of the training cadre itself—Improving Professional Development Offerings: Steps to Conduct a Needs Assessment.
As the cadre leader, establish your own follow-up support plan for the training cadre. This ensures the cadre receives the support needed to continue pursuing its goals and building capacity.
- What are barriers to evaluating the training cadre?
- What are barriers to evaluating team members?
- What are barriers to building capacity through trainings?
- What are barriers to communicating regularly with the cadre?
- What can be done to overcome these barriers?