Courage has significant experience in the conduct of evaluations, as well as conducting evaluation capability development projects including mentoring, teaching evaluation and development of evaluation resource materials.

Conduct of Evaluations and Reviews

The Courage Team has a strong record of performance in:

• The design and conduct of evaluations and reviews (independently or as part of a team), including the application of a range of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods;

• The design and delivery of workshop facilitation (as an independent activity or as part of an evaluation or change management initiative).

Examples of recent evaluations / reviews

Evaluation Capability Development

In addition to the conduct of evaluations, Courage has extensive experience in supporting agencies to enhance their own evaluation capability through, training, mentoring, skills / knowledge transfer, and the development of tailored support tools (e.g. policies and procedures, evaluation handbooks / manuals).  Examples include:

• IP Australia (current) – Courage is assisting IP Australia staff from different program areas by: providing advice in developing an evaluation strategy; advising on the most appropriate approach to individual evaluations; assisting with the planning – in particular, developing terms of reference for evaluations; and assisting with the analysis of data collected.

• Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) Evaluation Training Program (current) - Running since 2007, this is a comprehensive Evaluation Training Program for public sector/project managers who are new to evaluation or who wish to increase their knowledge in evaluation. For more information click here

• Commonwealth Ombudsman (2008) - Courage designed and delivered an interactive training workshop (including production of a facilitator training package) for Ombudsman staff on approaches to support the conduct and management of external review activities.  The training was based on a combination of performance audit and evaluation review methodologies.

• Child Support Agency (CSA) - In 2007 the CSA sought support to develop a capability and capacity in evaluation to allow their evaluation staff to undertake a number of evaluations of the Building a Better Child Support Agency Program.

Research and Survey Design and Conduct

Courage has considerable experience in research and information gathering; using a range of approaches including the design and use of survey instruments (Courage has a significant research and quantitative data collection capacity).  Some of the areas in which Courage has conducted research and survey work include:

Client satisfaction; Pilot evaluation; Review of performance systems and guidelines; Staff opinions / attitudes; and Gathering information in support of larger research projects. Some examples include: Attorney General’s Department - Design and conduct of a survey of staff attitudes and perceptions of the program for performance improvement. Department of Transport and Regional Services - Design and conduct of surveys as part of a post implementation review of the Rural Transaction Centre Program. Department of Health and Aging - Design and conduct of a survey to evaluate the Australian Rural and Remote Nursing Scholarship Program funded by the Department of Health and Aging and administered by the Royal College of Nursing. Department of Family and Community Services - Conducted National survey in support of an evaluation of Out of School Hours Care Quality Assurance training.

 

For further information please contact us

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