| Session Title: Strategic Approach to Developing Sustainable Infrastructure for Program Evaluation in an Organization: Multiple Perspectives |
| Multipaper Session 755 to be held in Preston Room on Saturday, November 10, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM |
| Sponsored by the Organizational Learning and Evaluation Capacity Building TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Bret Feranchak, Chicago Public Schools, bferanchak@cps.k12.il.us |
| Abstract: Building internal program evaluation capacity in organizations can be difficult. This panel presentation will examine one specific aspect of this capacity building-developing sustainable program evaluation infrastructure-through the multiple perspectives of actors comprising different roles (e.g., an organization's internal evaluation director, internal staff evaluator, external evaluator, graduate student intern) in one such effort. This effort is grounded in the context of a large urban school district, but the issues raised and strategies implemented would be applicable to many other types of organizations, especially those in the public or non-profit sectors. The panelists will discuss such issues as recruitment and development of evaluation staff; procuring and leveraging resources (human, fiscal, time, and space) for program evaluation activities; interactions with stakeholders; and approaches that increase the likelihood of longer term sustainability of the work. We will use the discussion period to engage other evaluators to reflect on their own strategies as a means to increase evaluation capacity in organizations. |
| The Internal Management Perspective |
| Bret Feranchak, Chicago Public Schools, bferanchak@cps.k12.il.us |
| This presentation will focus on the theoretical program evaluation framework that guides the work of this organization. The presenter, who is the Director of Program Evaluation for the organization, will discuss key issues in the design of the theoretical framework, the strengths and limitations of the approach, and practical issues in the implementation of the framework including how to recruit, develop, and supervise internal evaluation staff; increase buy-in for program evaluation activities from key district stakeholders; and procure and leverage resources (human, fiscal, time, and space) for program evaluation activities. The presentation will be delivered through the lens of a management perspective. |
| The Internal Evaluator Perspective |
| Kelci Price, Chicago Public Schools, kprice1@cps.k12.il.us |
| This presentation will focus on the role of the internal evaluator in building capacity within their own organization. The presenter is a staff evaluator in the Department of Program Evaluation and will discuss key issues around capacity building as experienced by the evaluation staff. These issues include the development of new and junior staff, balancing ad hoc data needs with longer term evaluation projects, and engaging different stakeholder groups. In addition, this presentation will address the very practical problems of creating systems for sharing skills and knowledge between evaluators, and of developing data management skills within stakeholder groups to facilitate on-going and formative evaluation. |
| The External Evaluator Perspective |
| Stacy Wenzel, University of Illinois, Chicago, swenzel@uic.edu |
| This presentation will focus on the role that external evaluators play as part of building evaluation capacity within an organization. The presenter is part of an evaluation group who serves as an external evaluator for many of the district's evaluation projects. This presentation will focus on building evaluation capacity through responsive evaluation by external groups, including issues of providing timely data in sync with stakeholders' decision-making needs, promoting utilization through the engagement of multiple stakeholder groups, and adding capacity by bringing to the internal evaluation group a different set of skills. |
| The Graduate Student Intern Perspective |
| Natalya Gnedko, Chicago Public Schools, ngnedko@cps.k12.il.us |
| This presentation will focus on the role of the graduate student intern in evaluation capacity building. The presenter is an intern in the Department of Program Evaluation whose position is funded by a local university with whom the department has established a working relationship. This mutually beneficial situation allows the university to place one of their students in an applied setting where they can gain practical research experience, while simultaneously benefiting the district with the services of an additional researcher. This presentation will focus on developing skills as a researcher through the internship experience, how the structure and vision of the department influence learning experiences, and the tradeoffs between gaining practical experience while still undertaking a formal education. |