Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick, professor emeritus, at University ofWisconsin, and creator of the Kirkpatrick Four-level Evaluation Model, passedaway May 9, 2014 at the age of 90. He was a pioneer in corporate training effectivenessevaluation, and his model is still an industry standard for measuring theimpact of training programs.
Donald Kirkpatrick,1924 – 2014 (used with permission:Kirkpatrick Partners—The One and Only Kirkpatrick—www.kirkpatrickpartners.com)
Don was a past president of the American Society forTraining and Development (ASTD) and the author of eight books and many articles.ASTD honored him with the “Lifetime Achievement in Workplace Learning andPerformance,” and Training Magazine includedhim in the HRD Hall of Fame. Don was the keynote and featured speaker at manyevents in the world of workplace learning. He recently reflected on his legacyin a thought-provoking post on the Kirkpatrick Partners blog.
Influence on the learning and development field
Here is how leaders in our community remember Dr.Kirkpatrick.
MarcRosenberg, past president and honorary life member of the International Societyfor Performance Improvement (ISPI), offered this tribute: “Very few individuals have a half-century of profoundinfluence in their profession. Don Kirkpatrick was one of them. He took theimportant yet challenging field of evaluation and made it relatable andmeaningful. Don was a giant in our field whose impact will continue for decadesto come.”
RuthClark, past president of ISPI, commented, “Workforce learning professionals arecommitted to continual improvement by way of evaluation of the effects of ourdeliverables on our learners and our organizations. Don Kirkpatrick’s ‘FourLevels of Evaluation’ has become the standard approach for the industry. It isour community tribute to Don to continue to apply the Kirkpatrick FourLevels and to pass on his legacy to those new to the profession.”
DavidHolcombe, co-founder and CEO of The eLearning Guild, recalled, “When I firststepped into the learning and instructional design field more than 30 yearsago, Don Kirkpatrick was already a towering figure and one of the first ‘gurus’whose name I learned. He made a huge contribution to the profession, and to thelives of every learner we serve that will likely never be forgotten. Kings cando no more…”
AllisonRossett, professor emeritus, San Diego State University, said of his influenceon the learning and development field, “I didn’t know Donald, but of course Iknew his work. Most remarkable was how familiar his ideas were across theworld. When teaching in any country, all I had to do was ask aboutKirkpatrick’s Four Levels, and they would nod knowingly. Then I would inquirefor details. They had that too. But knowing the levels of evaluation isn’tdoing them. Most interesting of all was to discuss why only Level 1, Reaction,was habitual. His ideas provided us, worldwide, with ways to talk about why wemeasure and why we don’t. Great steps in the right direction.”
EllenWagner, lead strategy officer for the PAR Framework and special advisor to thepresident of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, reflected,:“Professor Don Kirkpatrick shaped the way we, and the world around us, assessthe impact and efficacy of training and development on workplace learning andperformance. Known to one and all thanks to the broadly adopted evaluationmodel carrying his name, his thinking has guided L&D professionals ever sincehis series on measuring training impact appeared in ASTD Magazine in 1959. Dongave us the means for figuring out if the rubber of what we do in trainingand development actually hits the road.”
Legacy
Wake upalmost any experienced instructional designer or manager in the middle of thenight and demand that they tell you the Four Levels, and they will recite,“Reaction. Learning. Behavior. Results.” Only a handful of people have made asmuch difference as Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick. All of us at The eLearning Guildsend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. His is avoice that we will long remember!
