Evaluation of the W. K. Kellogg
Foundation Devolution Initiative
From 1996 to 2002 Harvard Family Research Project conducted an evaluation of
the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's (WKKF) Devolution Initiative. The WKKF Devolution
Initiative provides support to over 30 grantees that include researchers, policy
analysts, and state and national advocacy organizations. Grantees work together
to develop and disseminate information about the impact of welfare reform and
health care devolution that is useful and useable to a broad group of stakeholders,
including policymakers and the general public. Grantees also promote public
participation in informing policy agendas and decisions around welfare and health
care issues.
The Devolution Initiative evaluation addressed five objectives:
- Examine WKKF and Devolution grantee roles in information
development and dissemination.
- Examine links between information development, dissemination,
and target audiences.
- Examine capacity-building activities.
- Examine the link between building capacity and increasing
state and local participation in policymaking.
- Examine the Initiative's success in informing the policy
agenda.
HFRP used a participatory approach to evaluating the Devolution Initiative,
involving WKKF and grantees in decisions about the evaluation design, implementation,
and interpretation of results. The evaluation design was both formative and
summative and used a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to assess
the objectives and the outcomes connected to them.
Methods included:
- Logic models
- Interviews and questionnaires with all initiative stakeholders
- Document review
- Website analysis
- Media tracking and citizen research
- Site visits
- Participant observation
Evaluation Publications
Coffman, J. (1999). Simplifying complex
initiative evaluation. The Evaluation Exchange, 5(2–3), 2–3,
15.
Weiss, H. B., Coffman, J., & Bohan-Baker, M. (2002). Evaluation's
role in supporting initiative sustainability. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Family Research Project.
Additional Resources
W. K. Kellogg Foundation
W.
K. Kellogg Foundation Devolution Initiative
Contacts
Julia Coffman, Director of Evaluation
Marielle Bohan-Baker, Research Associate
Priscilla Little, Research Associate
Erin Harris, Research Assistant
Heather Weiss, Principle Investigator and HFRP Director
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