Donald L. Kirkpatrick, the author of a globally successful concept, a four-level measurement of learning in organizations, passed away on Friday, May 9th 2014 at the age of 90. He had devoted more than 50 years, the majority as a professor at the University of Wisconsin, to the issues of adult education. He published eight books and numerous articles on education, and had been featured at many conferences.
The model of training measurement, which is now called the Kirkpatrick Model, was created in 1959 when the author presented it in a series of articles for the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) and at conferences across the USA. The model has not yet been surpassed and it is still used by companies all over the world. It was not, however, published in a book until the first edition of Evaluating Training Programs in 1994. The model measures four levels of learning:
1. Reaction: reaction of students to a training program
2. Learning: knowledge gained
3. Behavior: changes in behavior based on the training
4. Results: effect of the training on a company's business results
In an article, 2009, for the educational server Clomedia.com, Don Kirkpatrick expressed his recommendations for today's education experts in companies. He wrote that many companies had asked him whether they should measure only the first and the second level and then proceed right to the fourth. Another frequently asked question was if they should implement a fifth level, measuring ROI, as recommended by other authors (e.g. Jack J. Phillips in his 1996 book How Much Is Worth The Training?). Kirkpatrick recommended to learn the basic four levels well and then choose a different methodology. "Anybody in training, you better start with the four levels, and then you can take off from there any way you want to," says Don Kirkpatrick.
Have you read Kirkpatrick's books? Do you apply his methodology in practice? How is your company doing with measuring the levels of education?
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Kirkpatrick, D. L., Kirkpatrick, J. D. (1994). Evaluating Training Programs, Berrett-Koehler Publishers