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Do You Have Evaluation Phobia? We Have the Cure
Track(s): Public Education

Gerry Bassett and Mary Marchone, USFA/National Fire Academy

Audio Sample:




Does the thought of an evaluation make you feel anxious? This session is a prescription designed for those with evaluation anxiety. It will give you some basic techniques and tools to evaluate public education programs and inspection services. Examples of evaluation measures, instruments, and methods to measure change during planning and implementation will be provided. Short- and long-term effects will also be discussed.

Gerry Bassett is a Training Specialist for the National Fire Academy where he has developed a comprehensive curriculum in public fire and life safety education. His courses reach over 5,000 students per year, including residential deliveries in Emmitsburg, two-day classes delivered through state-based training efforts, and one online course. For the past two years Gerry has worked on the development and delivery of a fire prevention measurement course which teaches students the steps required in performing formative, process, impact and outcome evaluations for their fire prevention programs. The course has been featured in numerous national, state and local venues. Gerry has been the curriculum manager for public fire and life safety education at the National Fire Academy for over 20 years.

Mary Marchone has over 40 years of progressive responsibilities in fire prevention. She spent thirty years with the Montgomery County, MD Fire and Rescue Service. She managed nationally recognized model programs involving home safety surveys, smoke alarm campaigns, youth firesetting interventions and child passenger safety. After her retirement from Montgomery County in 2000, she was a Risk Watch Field Advisor for the National Fire Prevention Association from 2001-2007. She was an instructor and course developer for over 20 years at the National Fire Academy and was influential in introducing the concept of fire department involvement in community risk reduction into NFA curriculum. In August 2008, she became the first woman to serve as a training specialist in the Fire Prevention Management Curriculum at the National Fire Academy.