Many discussions about HRD evaluation are organized around Kirkpatrick’s four levels of criteria. However, Kirkpatrick’s approach has also been the target of considerable criticism and modification. Researchers have expanded Kirkpatrick’s ideas to encourage practitioners to do a more thorough job of evaluation. Another extends the training evaluation model to six stages with a cycle of overlapping steps, with problems identified in one step possibly caused by negative occurrences in previous steps.

Noting that learning outcomes can be of three types (i.e., cognitive, skill-based, and affective), researchers propose a classification scheme for evaluating learning outcomes in each of these three areas. This scheme is quite specific, identifying the types of measures that can be used for learning outcomes in each category. One final model similar to Kirkpatrick’s also includes individual variables like motivation to learn, ability, job attitudes, and environmental variables like transfer climate or external events, that influence these outcomes. Research supports the importance of motivation to learn on training outcomes.