It is possible to evaluate an educational programme after it has been completed. But it is a much more difficult task. Because of this, evaluation should be built into the programme from the start.
It may otherwise prove impossible to do more than merely report on the completion of the programme in a manner that could as easily be done by a concluding report.
To properly evaluate a programme, there must be measurable objectives, meaningful indicators, concrete evaluation criteria, a commitment to document the programme, and preparation of the necessary information that an evaluation requires at the time of the events.
All these pre-suppose that the decision to evaluate is taken at the time the programme is planned, and that the evaluation design is built into that planning. Very few programme planning exercises achieve this simultaneity.
The best that can be hoped for is that the commitment to evaluation is made at the inception, that money is set aside for this activity, and that dates are scheduled for designing the evaluation, bringing in any external evaluators and conducting the necessary evaluation activities that happen separately from the programme activities.
The earlier this happens, the easier it is to obtain a satisfactory summative evaluation.
