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.
Before Kirkpatrick (sometimes even today) Trainers and Training Managers would judge the effectiveness of a learning treatment by the opinion of the learner ("Level One" Measurement)...you know, those silly little evaluation sheets where we are always asked such banal questions as: "Did you LIKE the course," or the obligatory "Do you FEEL smarter," and so forth. Most in the educational field also understood the need of testing the learner in order to validate knowledge (This is "Level Two").
But in this book old Don K. gives us the Third and Fourth levels of learning. Level Three: Basically, if you cannot empirically demonstrate that the learning experience translates well into behaviors on-the-job, AND provide perceived value for the company (a.k.a. "Level Four"), then it really does not matter how much you actually learned, now does it spanky!?
As many might know, since the time of Kirkpatrick, ROI (Return on Investment) is now "the Fifth Level" of learning measurement. This ratio is defined as the Benefits of your learning program in dollars, Divided by the Total Cost of your program, Multiplied by 100, which gives you an ROI percentage. Anything over 100% suggests a positive return. Pffft! When will these so-called learning professionals learn to acount for the Net Present Value of cash?? I mean, even if you give a company a positive return because of your glorious learning management system, they still had to shell out massive capital upfront, right? So "Positive ROI" is not so easy as putting a dollar average on turnover percentages and then creating a ratio...
Anyway, please know that you simply have to understand the roots of Training ROI via Kirkpatrick before you can count yourself amongst the "Training Cognoscenti." : ) Enjoy!
An excellent book that will educated you about training and all the peripheral details that may be just as important as the actual class you teach.