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10.4 Evaluation of Educational Project 175
decision makers so that they can use it to make decisions and thereby to improve
ongoing plans. The horizontal dimension includes four kinds of evaluation: context,
input, process, and product (Stufflebeam, 1971, 2003).
Context evaluation provides information about the strengths and weaknesses of a
total system to assist in planning improvement-oriented objectives at each level of
the system (Stufflebeam, 2003). The content usually refers to understanding the
relevant environment; diagnosing special problems; analyzing training needs;
determining requirements; and setting project goals.
Input evaluation provides information about the strengths and weaknesses of
alternative strategies which might be chosen and structured for the achievement of
given objectives (Stufflebeam, 2003). Input evaluation includes collecting training
resource information; assessing training resources; determining how to effectively
use existing resources to achieve training objectives; and determining whether the
overall strategy for project planning and design requires the assistance of external
resources.
Process evaluation provides information about the strengths and weaknesses of a
chosen strategy under conditions of actual implementation, so that either the
strategy or its implementation might be strengthened (Stufflebeam, 2003). The
purpose of the process evaluation is to provide information feedback to constantly
modify or improve the implementation process of the project. Process evaluation is
mainly achieved through the ways as insight into the potential causes of failures in
the implementation process; suggestions for eliminating potential failures; analysis
of unfavorable factors leading to failures in the implementation process; and
methods for overcoming unfavorable factors.
Product evaluation provides information for determining whether objectives or
goals are being achieved and whether the change procedure which has been
employed to achieve them should be continued, modified, or terminated (Stuf-
flebeam, 2003). The main task of the product evaluation is to measure and explain
the objectives of goals achieved by the activities of project, including both the
measurement and the interpretation of the achieved goals.
Evaluation, based on the indicators, focuses on the project’s implementation
process and how the project contributes to the goals. Evaluation is the last step of
the project cycle, but it is not the end of a project. Indeed, it can be considered the
starting point for a new planning process, because the conclusions of the evaluation
will allow the stakeholders to draw lessons that may guide future decision making
and project identification (ILO, 2010).
Key Points in This Chapter

(1) An educational project is a planned effort to bring about desired educational
outcomes, which has a budget, resources, a definite beginning, a duration, and
reasonably well-defined goals and objectives.
(2) Every project has to follow a series of phases, allowing the process to be guided
from the moment the problem is identified until it is solved. This series of