Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (Paperback)

~ Donald Kirkpatrick (Author)
Key Phrases: leadership skills assessment, enter your response, reaction sheets, Manager Safety Training, Creative Manager, Motorola University (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

This book encapsulates Don Kirkpatrick's lifetime of experience and provides real solutions to the training evaluation dilemma. The tools, techniques, and case studies this book includes will help trainers add rigor and discipline to this often neglected aspect of training work. I'm delighted to recommend this book as a valuable resource. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Don Kirkpatrick set the standard in training evaluation in 1959, and ever since, dedicated training professionals have used his Four Levels model for evaluating the impact of their work. Evaluating Training Programs finally makes these ideas available in an easy-to-use reference guide. -- Jane Holcum, Ph.D., ON-Target Training --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881052850
• ISBN-13: 978-1881052852
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #289,387 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Significant Classic, July 5, 2000

By	Stacey L. T. Boyle, Ph.D. (Naperville, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (Hardcover)

If you expect to interact with those in the training industry, you had best be armed with knowledge of Kirkpatrick's four-level model. For instance, if someone asks, "What are you doing about Level IV?" you need to come back with a robust response such as, "Well, we evaluate the impact of training by....". Kirkpatrick first presented his model in 1959 in a series of articles in the Training and Development Journal. In this book, the Godfather of training evaluation succinctly outlines his four-level model of training measurement: measuring reaction, measuring learning, measuring behavior, and measuring results. This book is an up-to-date enhancement of his model. It consists of corporate examples, which are always helpful, and survey templates. If you are looking for a model to increase training effectiveness, reduce cycle time of design and development of courses, or establish baselines, this is a good primer. I praise him for consistently encouraging formative evaluation. Less seasoned training professionals only conduct summative evaluation (Level 1-smiley sheets), but evaluation should not be seen as an event as much as a life-cycle process. The ISD process includes a formative evaluation approach, which is often over looked. If you read this book and measure all four levels, you will be on the right track to evaluation utopia.

If you are a serious evaluator or interested in calculating return on investment, a "must read" is Jack Phillips Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs. Phillips expands Kirkpatrick's models to a fifth level, which is return on investment (ROI), and encourages ROI at Kirkpatrick's four levels, too. If you are interested in implementing Kirkpatrick's four-level model and/or ROI, you need to read Another Look at Evaluation Training Programs. This book is a series of "best practice" articles compiled by Kirkpatrick.

One final note: Keep in mind that Kirkpatrick's model is not the only one out there. For instance, there is: Kaufman's Five Levels of Evaluation, The CIRO (context, input, reaction, and outcome) Approach, Stufflebeams's CIPP (context, input, process, and product) Model, Alkins' UCLA Model, and The Phillips Five-Level ROI Framework. Choose a best-fit model that is based on your known organizational barriers and the decisions important to your stakeholders.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be part of any trainers basic toolkit, June 27, 2000

By	HOYET HEMPHILL (NETg - Naperville, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (Hardcover)

This book should be in every instructional designer's or training manager's library. Kirkpatrick's four-level model of training evaluation is frequently referenced in the training literature and is the standard for evaluating the impact of training. It is part of the common language used in the training industry. This book is also an excellent primer for some of the basic issues involved in evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. It contains numerous case studies from actual training programs. Almost two-thirds of the book teaches through case studies.

The book also contains examples of data collection instruments and other evaluation tools that can be adapted for a trainer's own needs. I wish the first part of the book had been expanded to provide more explanation of the four levels before launching into the case studies. Kirkpatrick has edited another book, Another Look at Evaluating Training Programs, which contains articles by other evaluators who discuss many issues related to the Kirkpatrick model and provide further case studies.

There has been much interest in return-on-investment (ROI) in the training industry. Kirkpatrick cautions against confusing ROI with results; they are not the same. Financial return is just one of many possible critical success factors. The focus on ROI can even mask true business results that encompass more strategic factors and involve a larger time frame than is typically analyzed in ROI analysis. Nevertheless, the reader may want to look at Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs by Jack Phillips.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kirkpatrick's Four Levels get Five Stars, March 6, 2000

By	Les Lauber (Lawrence, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (Hardcover)

An indispensable work for anyone concerned with getting the most value from their training programs. What you'll find in this book:

* A concise but solid explanation of the four levels and the purpose of each level.

* Guidelines for measuring at each level.

* More than a dozen case studies that demonstrate how a variety of training organizations have implemented one or more of Kirkpatrick's levels, including sample forms and data analysis.

Kirkpatrick doesn't offer an "evaluation formula" with instructions to plug in an organization's name or training titles to a prefabricated shell. Instead, he presents a skeletal structure which an organization can flesh out to create an evaluation system.