WED-094 - Application of the 2024 CDC Program Evaluation Framework to Guiding Academic Program Evaluation

Brief Abstract Summary: This presentation will introduce participants to the 2024 Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Program Evaluation Framework and describe how this framework has been used to guide academic program evaluation in a nursing school. Attendees will learn about the 2024 CDC Program Evaluation Framework including the guiding actions, evaluation standards, and six steps for program evaluation. The presenter will then share some background information about academic program evaluation and its importance in higher education. The presenter then will discuss how this framework has been used to guide the implementation of a schoolwide academic program evaluation plan within a large nursing school in the southeastern United States. The presenter will discuss some unique challenges and opportunities in using this framework in higher education. Attendees will gain a broader understanding of how this framework can be applied in evaluation and quality improvement efforts in higher education.

Detailed abstract description: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Program Evaluation Framework was originally introduced in 1999 as a non-prescriptive and practical model to guide program evaluation. The framework has been adopted in a wide scope of evaluations efforts. As of 2024, the framework had been used in over 50 countries and approximately 300 publications. In 2024, the CDC updated the framework to include “three cross-cutting actions” which includes an increased focus on advancing equity, collaboration, and utilization of findings throughout the evaluation process. Further, based upon new and emerging evaluation research, the five standard of evaluation and six evaluation steps were updated. Thus, the 2024 CDC Program Evaluation Framework provides an even stronger framework to guide evaluations in a wide variety of programs, including academic programs.

An increased emphasis on formal academic nursing program evaluation began to emerge in the late 1980s and 1990s due to regulatory and accreditation agencies requiring outcome measures for academic institutions and nursing programs. More recently, accreditation agencies and state nursing boards have begun to have an increased emphasis on the systematic evaluation of nursing programs. With these evolving standards and nursing’s rich history of practice evaluation, academic nursing program evaluation has increasingly recognized the need for continuous quality improvement to identify issues and strengths while improving nursing program quality and outcomes. Consequently, the CDC’s framework provides a unique opportunity to leverage best-practices in evaluation while emphasizing foundational evaluation standards, promoting equity, and increasing usability. Further, previous authors have suggested the original CDC’s Program Evaluation Framework as a framework for guiding academic and nursing program evaluation.

One large southeastern nursing school with over 2,500 students and 160 full-time faculty utilizes components of the CDC’s Program Evaluation Framework to guide their academic program evaluation and continuous quality improvement efforts. The presenter will describe how the CDC’s framework aligns with the school’s systematic evaluation plan and evaluation processes. The presenter will also describe how the evaluation office that oversees these efforts interweaves the CDC’s evaluation standards throughout the school’s evaluation activities. The presenter will discuss how the school and office actively seeks new and innovative ways to increase engagement and collaboration, advance equity, and actively encourage and track the utilization of evaluation findings. The attendees will also learn some of the unique challenges and opportunities experienced in applying the CDC framework in a higher education context and in a larger institution. Building upon these experiences, the presenter will discuss how others can potentially use the 2024 CDC Program Evaluation Framework in similar programs and settings.