U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Recommended Actions
Chapter 2 – Process Evaluation: Getting
on the Right Track
Identify Process Evaluation Elements: SHSP
Organizational Structure – Recommended
Actions
- Review the SHSP
organizational structure to identify and document
its format and functions(s).
- Examine the positions of persons serving on
SHSP
committees (e.g., steering and executive committees),
as well as emphasis area and local/regional/district
teams to determine their contribution to the
SHSP
process and access to leadership and resources.
- Review the schedule of SHSP
leadership and committee meetings to determine
if they meet as frequently as planned or needed.
- Review the SHSP
organizational structure to determine the level
of support provided to partners in local and
regional coalitions.
- Review the role and function of SHSP
committees, teams, and/or groups. Compare these
current roles and functions with the expectations
set at the beginning of the SHSP
process.
Identify Process Evaluation Elements: Multidisciplinary,
Multimodal Collaboration – Recommended
Actions
- Review the membership of the various committees,
emphasis area action teams, task forces, etc.
to assess the degree to which multiple disciplines
and modes are represented and actively involved.
- Determine if mechanisms are in place that
facilitate an active, efficient collaborative
process, such as MOUs.
- Review the planning documents of the various
agencies and safety partners to discern how
well they reflect elements of the SHSP,
such as the goals, objectives, and strategies.
- Determine if the SHSP
vision, mission, and goals are clearly and continually
communicated to all partners and stakeholders.
Identify Process Evaluation Elements: Goal and
Objective Setting Methods – Recommended
Actions
- Review the analysis methods used to set objectives.
Are they data driven?
- Determine if objectives are specific, measurable,
time bound, and realistic.
Identify Process Evaluation Elements: Data-Driven
and Evidence-Based Emphasis Area Strategies and
Actions – Recommended Actions
- Review methods used for identifying safety
problems and selecting emphasis areas. Determine
whether safety data analysis was the primary
input to problem identification and emphasis
area selection.
- Determine whether the latest safety data and
research was used to identify evidence based
strategies and actions.
- Identify strategies in the SHSP
that may lack a preponderance of evidence of
effectiveness. Determine if there was enough
information or evidence (e.g., success in another
State) to justify its use, or if an evaluation
was conducted to validate the use of the strategy.
Identify Process Evaluation Elements: Aligning
Agency Priorities – Recommended Actions
- Review the HSP,
CVSP,
HSIP,
LRTP,
and S/TIPs
to determine the degree to which they align
with the SHSP.
- Review other plans, e.g. pedestrian/bicycle
plans, corridor plans, local road plans, etc.,
to determine the degree to which their goals
and strategies align with the SHSP.
Process Evaluation Activities – Recommended
Actions
- Review the possible methods to collect process
evaluation information. Identify the pros and
cons of each method.
- Determine and document the most appropriate
method and the rationale for the selection.
Include the higher level performance measures
(e.g., primary outcomes) in the evaluation if
data are available (to answer the evaluation
objectives) and consider other, more attainable
measures if they are not available.
Identify and Secure Resources – Recommended
Actions
- Identify available resources to support SHSP
evaluation.
- Identify individuals or agencies with the
skills to analyze data and other information
and provide evaluation support.
- Explore the availability of universities,
professors/graduate students, and others if
extra help or expertise is needed.
- Collect information on current evaluation
efforts among the partners, e.g. CVSP,
HSP,
etc.
- Determine a timeframe for conducting SHSP
evaluation.
Assign Evaluation Roles and Responsibilities –
Recommended Actions
- Determine the agency responsible for coordinating
the overall program evaluation effort.
- Identify the individual(s) who will manage
the evaluation effort, collect and analyze data,
and report the evaluation results.
Report and Use Evaluation Results –
Recommended Actions
- Identify the parties responsible for generating
the evaluation results.
- Assign a lead person to pull together the
results from the various parties and distribute
them to the appropriate committees, agencies,
etc.
- Determine who will receive the results of
the evaluation, i.e., agency executives, Steering
Committee members, all stakeholders, etc.
- Decide how the results will be formatted,
i.e., formal reports, spreadsheets, PowerPoint
presentations, etc.
- Identify how the evaluation results will be
used.
Document Evaluation Approach – Recommended
Actions
- Document the evaluation elements (objectives,
data needs, resources, roles and responsibilities,
application methods, etc.) to formalize the
process.
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Page last modified on April 17, 2014