| In a 90 minute Roundtable session, the first
rotation uses the first 45 minutes and the second rotation uses the last 45 minutes. |
| Roundtable Rotation I:
Building Evaluation Capacity in a State Maternal and Child Health Agency |
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Roundtable Presentation 624 to be held in Federal Hill Suite on Friday, November 9, 1:55 PM to 3:25 PM
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| Presenter(s):
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| Nurit Fischler,
Oregon Public Health Division,
nfischle@dhs.state.or.us
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| Collette Young,
Oregon Public Health Division,
collette.m.young@state.or.us
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| Abstract:
Over the past year, the Oregon Public Health Division's Office of Family Health (OFH) has launched a process to build its evaluation capacity and integrate evaluation into the planning, design, implementation and funding of its' Maternal and Child Health programs. A variety of programs including WIC, family planning, immunizations, and perinatal and child health are included in this effort. An interdisciplinary Rapid Improvement Process team surveyed staff and management in order to assess current practices and evaluation capacity, and then proposed a series of capacity-building recommendations, which managers used to develop action steps. The recommendations are currently being implemented through the combined efforts of management, a cross-office work team, and a contracted evaluation specialist. The process brought to light the diversity in needs and skills related to evaluation among both staff and management. Successes and challenges of this effort raise interesting questions about how to facilitate organizational learning, build a culture of evaluation, and develop systems, supports and guidelines for evaluation in a state organization with diverse programs and funders.
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| Roundtable Rotation II:
Facilitating Collaborative Evaluation Projects for Building and Sustaining Evaluation Capacity: Reflections and Lessons Learned |
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Roundtable Presentation 624 to be held in Federal Hill Suite on Friday, November 9, 1:55 PM to 3:25 PM
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| Presenter(s):
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| Ellen Taylor-Powell,
University of Wisconsin,
ellen.taylor-powell@ces.uwex.edu
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| Matthew Calvert,
University of Wisconsin,
matthew.calvert@ces.uwex.edu
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| Abstract:
Collaborative evaluation efforts are suggested as a way to build and sustain evaluation learning (Arnold, 2006; Huffman, et al., 2006). Working collaboratively is a common scenario, and one component, of the University of Wisconsin-Extension evaluation capacity building work. We will present two recent statewide collaborative evaluation projects from the 4-H Youth Development Program area – the Arts and Communication program evaluation and a study of the youth development educator's role in promoting youth/adult partnerships. What did/are we learning from these cases in terms of building learning communities and sustaining evaluation capacity? What is peculiar to each case that facilitates/hinders individual and organizational learning? As a Roundtable, we will present the projects and answer the two questions above through a critical review of our experience. Then, we will pose targeted questions to the participants to solicit their insights and lessons learned. This roundtable will begin to define indicators to use in evaluating our capacity building work.
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