A Mutual Catalytic Model of Formative Evaluation

This article describes the `mutual catalytic model' of programme design and formative evaluation. The model presumes two conditions under which it can be useful. Firstly, those responsible for a programme at the point of service delivery should participate equally in a programme's design and in its evaluation. This collaboration will: 1) increase the clarity of programme objectives and the level of consensus regarding them; 2) improve the evaluation design and process by connecting the evaluation with the realities at the point of service delivery; and 3) increase the likelihood that staff will use the results of the evaluation to improve programme design. Secondly, evaluators are required relatively frequently to facilitate the review of programme objectives and procedures, since reviews of this kind rarely take place without an extra stimulus and sometimes need a practical hand to guide them. In the mutual catalytic model of formative evaluation, local practitioners help to specify programme goals and improve evaluation, while evaluators help to elaborate programme goals and evaluation needs. This model is exemplified using experiences with homeless-child care centres in Seville in Spain.