The need to evaluate the effectiveness of knowledge transfer predates the Kirkpatrick Four Levels by at least 20 years. From the need to observe workers performing tasks well after instruction, Ralph Tyler's 1930s eight-year study of curriculum evaluation to Raymond Katzell's papers on responsive evaluation; the interest on evaluating learning results has been there. However, the most known model is Donald Kirkpatrick's (1924-2014) Four Levels of Training Evaluation. The evolutions of that model by Jack Phillips ROI Framework along with the New World Kirkpatrick model by James Kirkpatrick and Wendy Kayser give better guidance today on what to consider in training evaluations.
Phillips, J. (1997). The Handbook of Training Evaluations and Measurement Methods.
https://archive.org/details/handbookoftraini0003phil/page/42/mode/2up
Thalheimer, W. (2018). Donald Kirkpatrick was not the Originator of the Four-Level Model of Learning Evaluation
https://www.completelearningsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Donald-Kirkpatrick-was-NOT-the-Originator-of-the-Four-Level-Model-of-Learning-Evaluation-%E2%80%93-Work-Learning-Research.pdf