The use of the Measurement of Continuous Improvement Model for training program evaluation

The purposes of this study are to evaluate a leadership training program at a Fortune 500 company and to determine the effectiveness of the Measurement of Continuous Improvement (MCI) Model in evaluating the program. The MCI Model, specifically customized and designed for this project, used Kirkpatrick\u27s four-level evaluation methodology to develop the instruments and select the research design. For Level 1 (Reaction), a participant reactions evaluation form was given to the trainees during the last day of the program to determine how well they liked the training. The pretest and posttest were administered to program attendees in four training locations--Midwest, Midnorth, Southwest, and South--to measure their learning gains (Level 2--Learning). To assess Level 3 (Behavior), a behavioral indicator instrument was administered to the managers, peers, and subordinates of the chosen treatment group and an equivalent control group prior to and three months after the training. Finally, the data for the Results Level were collected to ascertain whether there is a direct link between the program\u27s objectives and the company\u27s goals. The results showed that at the Reactions level, the training was well-liked by the participants. For the Learning level, the overall mean pretest and posttest scores for all locations were 45.7% and 80.1%, respectively. There were significant differences in mean pretest and posttest scores among the four training locations. Within each location, the posttest scores were significantly higher than the pretest scores. However, the percent gain scores among locations yielded no significant differences. The Behavior level results did not produce significant improvement in all leadership behavioral skills three months after the training for both treatment and control groups. There were no significant differences in the responses among the managers, peers, and subordinates of both the experimental and control groups. Finally, the Results level revealed no direct link between the leadership program objectives and company mission. The Measurement of Continuous Improvement Model was found to be a systematic, structured, easy-to-follow, and effective methodology for evaluating industrial training programs