Spring 2025 Course Schedule
| Week | Date | Guiding question | Topic | Story | Case Study | Assignment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1/28 | What is program evaluation? Where are we headed in this course? | Introduction and Overview | John Snow | ||
| 2 | 2/4 | Why do evaluation? | Goals and Types of Evaluation | High Line Park | Jobs Plus in NYC | CR1 |
| 3 | 2/11 | How to identify causal effects? | Logic and Causal Models | Bombing in Vetnam – War and Development | Northwest Housing Alternatives | CR2 |
| 4 | 2/18 | Class following Monday schedule - No session | ||||
| 5 | 2/25 | How do I account for everyone involved? | Stakeholder Engagement | John Muir and National Park System | ARPA-E | CR3 |
| 6 | 3/4 | How do I use the scientific method in the real world? | Evaluation Designs: Randomized Experiences | Esther Duflo and RCTs | Microfinance and RCT | CR4 |
| 7 | 3/11 | What if a randomized experiment is not viable? | Evaluation Designs: Quasi-experiments | Michael Greenstone and Environmental Economics | Air Quality and Life-expectancy | CR5 |
| 8 | 3/18 | How to do case study evaluation? | Evaluation Designs: Qualitative methods | Elinor Ostrom and Case Studies | NYC T&G Programs | CR6 |
| 9 | 3/25 | How to manage challenges in evaluation? | Overcome Resistance and Improve Organization Capacity Guest Speaker: Beatrice Teston |
James March and Organization Theory | American Red Cross Haiti Relief By Cristian Morales |
CR7 |
| 10 | 4/1 | Where does the data come from? | Data Collection: Procedures, instrumentation, practical consideration | Fei-fei Li and ImageNet | AI and Big Data in Development Evaluation | CR8 |
| 11 | 4/8 | What methods make data tell accurate stories and solve problems? | Data Analysis: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed analysis | Hans Rosling and Storytelling | CUNY SEEK Program | CR9 |
| 12 | 4/15 | No session-Spring Recess | ||||
| 13 | 4/22 | Is the program worthwhile? What happens next? | Economic Evaluation and Performance Measurement | Robert Bullard and Environmental Justice | CBA of EPA Clean Air Act | Proposal, CR10 |
| 14 | 4/29 | How to be an ethical evaluator? | Ethics, Principles, and Standards | The Moral Machine | ||
| 15 | 5/6 | Presentation | ||||
| 16 | 5/13 | Presentation | ||||
| 17 | 5/20 | Evaluation report | Student Projects |
Note: CR: Case Response