Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) 2.0 Tribal Evaluation: Evaluation Plan

The purpose of this report is to describe the tribal evaluation team’s approach and methods for the evaluation of the Tribal HPOG 2.0 Program.

• The Tribal HPOG 2.0 evaluation approach is grounded in community-based participatory research and is guided by the seven values outlined in the Roadmap for Collaborative and Effective Evaluation in Tribal Communities.
• The tribal evaluation team worked closely with each grantee over the first year of the evaluation to learn about their communities and gather input into the evaluation design and data collection protocols to ensure that the evaluation is culturally responsive and relevant to the Tribe and community.
• The Tribal HPOG 2.0 evaluation will assess the structure, process, and outcomes of the grantees’ programs.
• The tribal evaluation team will use multiple sources of data, including document reviews; curricula reviews; semi-structured in-person and telephone interviews with grantee and partner administrative staff, program implementation staff, and local employers; focus groups and follow-up interviews with program participants; data collected through the HPOG Participant Accomplishment and Grant Evaluation System (PAGES); and linkage of wage and employment information through the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) where possible.
• Results from the Tribal HPOG 2.0 evaluation will be shared through a variety of reports, briefs, and presentations.

The Tribal HPOG 2.0 evaluation team initiated three knowledge development activities to inform the development of the evaluation design. These activities were: 1) gathering feedback from the grantees and other stakeholders on the evaluation approach and design; 2) consulting with experts that serve on the Tribal HPOG 2.0 Technical Work Group (TWG); and 3) conducting a brief review of the literature related to research in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. The tribal evaluation team also referred to the Roadmap for Collaborative and Effective Evaluation in Tribal Communities, developed by the Child Welfare Research and Evaluation Tribal Workgroup, which guides the approach to the evaluation.

Meit, M., Hafford, C., Fromknecht, C., Phillips, E., Miesfeld, N., Nadel, T. (2017). Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) 2.0 Tribal Evaluation: Evaluation Plan, OPRE Report 2016-37, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.