A Guide to Creating High Performing Programs A NEW APPROACH TO EVALUATION FROM DISCOVERY TO CURE

This publication is not copyrighted and may be reproduced in whole or part without permission. However, in accordance with accepted publishing standards, the COPS Office and the authors request that proper acknowledgement accompany any such use. Circle Solutions, Inc. is an employee-owned professional services firm providing products and services in support of healthier, safer people and communities. T he Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) has made substantial investments in local initiatives designed to institutionalize community policing and to enhance the safety and well-being of communities. The COPS in Schools program (CIS) represented one of the COPS Offices' most important efforts, because it was designed to foster collaborative partnerships between law enforcement agencies and school districts, and enhance the safety of students, faculty, and school staff. Since 2000, funding from the COPS Office has forged thousands of local law enforcement–school partnerships, deployed School Resource Officers (SROs) in elementary, middle, and high schools nationally, and provided training and technical assistance to more than 10,000 SROs and school administrators. The CIS program required law enforcement agencies and school districts to jointly design and manage their new partnerships amid the complexities of their respective organizations. Central to their success has been the ability to continually improve their programs and to strategically implement policies, procedures, and systemic changes to sustain these programs. A New Approach to Evaluation: A Guide to Creating High Performing Programs incorporates principles of organizational development and learning (ODL) into the traditional program evaluation framework to create a new paradigm for building organizational capacity that can Letter from the Director lead to greater program effectiveness and sustainability. The approach outlined in this Guide focuses on both the program (i.e., SRO program) as well as the organization (i.e., police department, school district) responsible for the program. The addition of ODL principles in the evaluation framework provides a way to assess the organizational capacities that are needed to ensure programs function well and achieve their intended purpose. The key benefit of this approach is that it focuses on building organizational capacities so the program can adapt, when necessary, to improve operational efficiency, achieve greater effectiveness, and institutionalize sustainable practices. This Guide provides a roadmap for creating high performing programs by building organizational capacities to help implement change, and achieve desired goals that are enduring. It has grown and developed from the experiences of the CIS grantees. However, the principles, strategies …