The performance of World Bank Institute core course training, FY 1999-2001

This report provides a comprehensive retrospective of core course training from the perspectives of participant reaction, learning and task manager perceptions. It also provides empirical evidence regarding the impact of variations in delivery mode on reactions and learning. The report summarizes evaluation results from 26 official World Bank Institute core courses. The study was intended to help task managers improve core course training by answering four questions: (i) what extent did core courses deliver quality training as perceived by participants and did participants' views differ according to their background characteristics? (ii) what extent did core courses improve participants' knowledge about the course content and did this differ according to participants' background characteristics? (iii) what extent did core courses address and focus on key quality issues concerning training design and delivery, including selection of participants, responding to participants' learning needs, and cooperating with partners? and (iv) how did training delivery format affect core course performance, with reference to course site (Washington, D.C. versus regional), partnership leadership of courses, distance learning (DL), and fees. In addition, the report provides basic information about those who benefited from core courses. The report is organized into seven chapters, describing the research data and overall methods, the characteristics of the core course participants, core course participants' perceptions, core course participants' learning, task managers' perceptions, and the effects of delivery mode on course outcomes.