Social workers understand that evaluation is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with and on behalf of diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers evaluate processes and outcomes to increase practice, policy, and service delivery effectiveness. Social workers apply anti-racist and anti-oppressive perspectives in evaluating outcomes. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as interprofessional conceptual frameworks, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in evaluating outcomes. Social workers use qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating outcomes and practice effectiveness.

Social workers:

a. Select and use culturally responsive methods for evaluation of outcomes; and

b. Critically analyze outcomes and apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

My Narrative

Social work is about evaluating the intervention so that it can in turn help future clients and help direct best practice. This is not simply a means to an end, but is a constant observation. It is important for social workers to choose evaluations that align with the goal of the client and are appropriate for a given population. 

This challenges me as a social worker because it requires attentiveness and attention to detail. There are many ways to evaluate, and it is important to observe all aspects. I will remain committed by addressing the intervention with clients as the intervention is implemented, so that I am evaluating throughout the process. In the future, this competency will be used especially during clinical work. I will need to evaluate the progress of clients, which will guide next steps.

School Evidence 

SOCW-455-Social Work Practice With Organizations and Communities Grant Proposal Lesson Evaluation and Kahoot Questions

In this assignment, my classmate, Genesis, and I were tasked to teach a lesson about justice and advocacy. After this, we created a pre and post-assessment to evaluate the degree to which people understood the lesson. We also realized that our group is competitive, so I created a Kahoot with different questions as a way to evaluate people’s understanding of the lesson.

I chose this assignment for this competency because Genesis and I were able to engage the class with an evaluation that fit their needs, as well as one that assisted us in knowing our strengths and weaknesses of our presentation. We also ensured that everyone was able to access the form via google forms.

I learned the importance of choosing methods that are responsive to the needs of the group. Depending on the agency or age that I will work with, the way I evaluate will be different. This allowed me to consider other methods of evaluation.

Field Evidence 

Evaluating Volunteer Intervention-Evaluation Questions & Volunteer Evaluation Case Notes

After an intervention, it is important to know that it is meeting the expectations and needs of the patient. I evaluated the intervention of a volunteer coming on to a patient’s care team. I asked the following questions:

From your perspective, has the volunteer added to your experience on hospice? Is the frequency of visits helpful? What are the strengths or weaknesses, if any?

I chose this evidence because when I first evaluated, I realized that it was not as thorough as it should have been. I wanted a redo to truly practice and master evaluation. Many times, evaluation with clients can be via conversation, and I learned that knowing what questions to ask to achieve understanding is vital.

I used the skills of analysis and the importance of service delivery with this evidence. I was able to analyze the answers given, as well as evaluate whether the service provided by hospice was beneficial to my patient.

Other Evidence Outside of School and Field

HLED-473-Health Education Methods: Evaluation of Presentation

In Health Education Methods, Dr. Sloan required students to create a verbal pre-assessment and a written post-assessment. This class was intended to teach students how to teach health concepts. The post-assessment allowed for me, the instructor, to evaluate the learning outcomes of my “students”.

I chose this assignment for my competency because the evaluations were helpful to know if my teaching methods were effective. In social work, there will be times when psycho-educational classes are necessary, and this class and this requirement for each lesson were useful in becoming confident with creating evaluations.

This competency states that evaluation can occur quantitatively or qualitatively. I believe that this assignment implemented both, by allowing students to share their thoughts after the session, as well as share through a written evaluation.