PLANNING TEMPLATE FOR AN EVALUATION ESSAYa

These templates will help you build an evaluation essay. It follows the organization of an evaluation
essay, but you don’t have to use it in that ordera. The important thing is to capture your ideas as they
occur to you.
Position Statement: Bottom-line Judgment

State your overall evaluation, the most significant positive and negative factors, and any qualifications.
Be brief! The statement can be revised as you work. (Note: You can’t start work on the positive
statement until you have some confidence in your bottom-line judgment.)

Overall evaluation:

Summary of major positive/negative factors:

Summary of any qualifications:

Evaluation Criteria. State the evaluation criteria. They should be relevant, broad rather than
narrow, and as few as possible. Specific ways to measure the criteria may be needed. Note them in the
second column.

Criteria How to measure them

 Proof of the evaluation

List positive and negative factors the criteria reveal and the evidence for them. The points can be
revised and rearranged as you work. If any criteria seem to have ambiguous results, note those. In the
essay, order positive and negative factors to support your position statement. Also, note any ideas for
action steps.

Criterion 1

Evidence Action plan ideas

Positive

Negative

Criterion 2

Evidence Action plan ideas

Positive

Negative

Criterion 3

Evidence Action plan ideas

Positive

Negative

Criterion 4

Evidence Action plan ideas

 Positive

Negative

Qualifications

Qualifications state factors not part of the evaluation that have a significant effect on it. A summary of
the qualifications should be included in the position statement.

Qualification (if any):

Action Plan
The general purpose of an evaluation action plan is to improve the negative factors and enhance the
positive. For the assessment of an act such as decision, the action plan can be an implementation plan
that reflects the findings of the evaluation.

Goal(s)
State the goal(s) of the plan—the major outcome(s) the steps are supposed to bring about.

Goal(s)

1.

2.

3.
 Action Steps. Write the steps of the plan without worrying too much about their order. When you
finish, write numbers in the first column to indicate the final chronological order of the steps. The second
column can help you think about steps as part of phases of the overall plan (e.g., consensus,
communication, and improvement).

Short term

Order in Phase Step

essay

Long term

Order in Phase Step

essay
Major Risks and Responses

Identify the major risks that could undermine the plan. Propose responses that will eliminate or contain
them.

Risk Response

a. Tehila Lieberman contributed substantially to the development of the essay planning templates.