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How do People Process Data Reports? Implications for Reporting Evaluation Findings to Stakeholders
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| Presenter(s):
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| Jill Lohmeier,
University of Massachusetts Lowell,
jill_lohmeier@uml.edu
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| Steven Lee,
University of Kansas,
swlee@ku.edu
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| Abstract:
One important issue for promoting the utilization of evaluation findings is ensuring that stakeholders actually process and understand the findings. Program evaluation textbooks generally include one chapter about how to present evaluation findings. These chapters generally suggest outlines for evaluation reports and discuss the importance of personal presentations to stakeholders. However, in addition to presentations and final reports, findings are often presented in brief reports prior to the summative reports. The evaluation literature and textbooks spend little time discussing the best methods for attracting the initial attention and cognitive processing of stakeholders in these brief reports. In the current study, undergraduates were presented with a research findings briefing. Think aloud and retrospective probing procedures were utilized to determine which parts of the briefing were examined first, were studied most, and were remembered following the presentation. The findings will be discussed in terms of the implications for creating evaluation briefings.
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Making Evaluation Meaningful: Creating Recommendations Clients Can and Will Use
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| Presenter(s):
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| Caitlin Scott,
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory,
scottc@nwrel.org
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| Theresa Deussen,
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory,
deussent@nwrel.org
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| Kari Nelsestuen,
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory,
nelsestuenk@nwrel.org
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| Abstract:
Well-crafted recommendations can increase clients' perceptions of the usefulness of evaluations and increase clients' appreciation of evaluations. Yet, many evaluation reports fail to deliver recommendations that clients can understand and use. This paper describes three aspects of crafting recommendations: 1) guidelines for determining appropriate recommendations; 2) guidelines for language used in recommendations; and 3) techniques for developing recommendations collaboratively with clients. Audience members can take the ideas from the paper and immediately apply them to their work to ensure their own reports contain meaningful, actionable recommendations. Examples in this paper come from the field of education but the guidelines and practices are applicable in other fields as well.
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Exploring the Role of Communication in Evaluation Utilization
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| Presenter(s):
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| Janet Lee,
University of California Los Angeles,
janet.lee@ucla.edu
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| Abstract:
Much of the research literature on how communication impacts evaluation utilization has focused on the nature and format of the report and various evaluator characteristics and actions. While communication does include all written and verbal, formal and informal sharing of information, communication is also a dynamic, interactive process. In this presentation the author explores how communication and the ways in which the presence or the lack of a strong communication/dissemination structure within an organization facilitates or hinders evaluation use among teachers in three urban area high schools. Conclusions are based on survey and interview data that has been analyzed using social network analysis along with more traditional analytic methods in order to gain a deeper understanding of how communication plays a role in evaluation utilization.
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