Workshop: Evaluation and Value for Money: An approach using rubrics and mixed methods

Date and time: Monday 17 July and Monday 24 July, 9.30am to 12.30pm AEST (registration from 9.15am) Registrants are to attend both sessions. (full day workshop - 2 sessions)

Venue: Via Zoom. Details will be emailed to registrants just prior to the workshop start time

Facilitator: Julian King

Register online by: 14 July 2023, unless sold out prior limited to 25 participants.

Fees (GST inclusive): Members $295, Organisational member staff $415, Non-members $485, Student member $140, Student non-member $226. Students must send proof of their full-time student status to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Workshop Overview

It is important for good resource allocation, accountability, learning and improvement that policies, programs, and other initiatives undergo rigorous evaluations of value for money (VfM). Many evaluators, however, lack training and experience in this area. This workshop offers a set of techniques to address that gap. Combining strengths of evaluation and economics, this approach, called Value for Investment, builds on theory and practice that will already be familiar to many evaluators, although there are also many evaluators and commissioners for whom these techniques may be new. The approach is intuitive to learn and practical to use.

Workshop Content

This participatory workshop provides practical guidance, underpinned by a sound theoretical framework, for evaluating VfM. It focuses on unpacking a process of explicit evaluative reasoning (using rubrics) and the use of mixed methods (qualitative, quantitative, and economic).

A sequence of steps will be shared, that when followed, help evaluators and commissioners develop and use context-specific definitions of good performance and VfM. These definitions provide a system for ensuring the evaluation: is aligned with the design and context of the policy, program, or initiative; collects and analyses the right kinds of evidence; draws sound conclusions; and answers VfM questions. Exercises and examples will be shared throughout the workshop.

Session One covers the practical steps involved in designing a VfM framework. Session Two covers the steps involved in conducting a VfM assessment, as well as some evaluation theory and conceptual principles underpinning the approach, and a few tips and tricks for applying the approach in the real world.

The workshop includes a brief overview of economic methods of evaluation (e.g., cost-benefit analysis) including considerations for determining when to use them in a VfM assessment, and when to combine them with other evidence and values. Note that it doesn’t provide detailed instruction in the design and implementation of economic evaluations.

Workshop Objectives

Participants will learn how to:

• frame an evaluative question about VfM

• develop rubrics, comprising criteria (aspects of performance) and standards (levels of performance), to provide a transparent basis for making sound judgements about VfM

• combine multiple sources of evidence to support nuanced evaluative judgements

• incorporate economic evaluation within a VfM framework, where feasible and appropriate

• interpret the evidence, using criteria and standards, to make sound evaluative judgements

• present a clear and robust performance story, guided by the criteria and standards.

PL competencies

This workshop aligns with competencies in the AES Evaluator’s Professional Learning Competency Framework. The identified domains are:

• Domain 2 – Evaluation theory

• Domain 3 – Culture, stakeholders and context

• Domain 4 – Research methods and systematic inquiry

• Domain 7 – Evaluation Activities

Who should attend?

The workshop is designed for evaluators and commissioners of evaluation at all levels, from novice to expert. It is suitable for evaluators and commissioners who want to learn about rubrics generally and, in particular, for those who want to learn how to apply rubrics and mixed methods to VfM specifically.

Workshop start times

• VIC, QLD, NSW, ACT, TAS: 9.30am

• SA, NT: 9.00am

• WA: 7.30am

• New Zealand: 11.30am

• For other time zones please go to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

About the facilitator

Julian King specialises in evaluation and value for money, helping decision makers, evaluation teams and stakeholders to assess the value of policies and programs. Julian is the Director of Julian King & Associates Ltd, a member of the Kinnect Group, an Associate of Oxford Policy Management, an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne and University Fellow at Charles Darwin University. Julian’s PhD developed the Value for Investment approach, a model for combining evaluative reasoning with economic evaluation. The approach is used globally to evaluate complex and hard-to-measure programs and policy reforms.