Formative evaluation: An opportunity to enhance the potential for student learning on community college campuses

Community colleges offer a changing series of evolving academic programs and services. The question is: Can these offerings be evaluated in a way that increases their effectiveness? This dissertation suggests an evaluation approach intended to enhance opportunities for student learning on community college campuses. To respond to this question it is necessary to understand the factors in the community college environment that affect program evaluation, the reasons why educational evaluation has had a limited impact on improving educational programs and alternate evaluation approaches. Therefore, this dissertation includes a review of the literature on community college mission statements, the diverse ways in which they have been interpreted and operationalized and the resultant, institutionally unique student populations and organizational goals. A literature review which focuses on understanding the progress and limitations of each era of educational evaluation is also included. Alternate evaluation approaches, such as Egon Guba and Yvonna Lincoln\u27s Fourth Generation Evaluation, Michael Quinn Patton\u27s Utilization-Focused Evaluation and the work of Vincent Tinto, are also explored. An evaluation approach for community colleges was then designed. This approach is grounded in the assumptions of Guba and Lincoln\u27s Fourth Generation Evaluation and draws upon the work of Patton, Tinto and others. The central component of this dissertation is the implementation of this evaluation approach at Middlesex Community College and an assessment of its usefulness. The successful implementation of this view of evaluation demonstrated that it has the potential to contribute to the development of locally effective programs and services. The major strengths of the design include its flexibility, focus on open communication, recognition of multiple sets of valid educational values and goals, and its emphasis on understanding the educational process for a specific group of students. Most significantly, the implementation experience revealed that the power of this evaluation approach as a tool to improve educational programs and services lies in its emphasis on the interactive, fluid process of conducting a fourth generation evaluation