| In a 90 minute Roundtable session, the first
rotation uses the first 45 minutes and the second rotation uses the last 45 minutes.
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| Roundtable Rotation I:
Putting Data and Evaluation Into Context for Non-profits |
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Roundtable Presentation 275 to be held in Suwannee 21 on Thursday, Nov 12, 10:55 AM to 12:25 PM
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Sponsored by the Non-profit and Foundations Evaluation TIG
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| Presenter(s):
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| Campbell Bullock, San Joaquin Community Data Cooperative, cbullock@co.san-joaquin.ca.us
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| Olga Goltvyanitsa, San Joaquin Community Data Cooperative, ogoltvyanitsa@co.san-joaquin.ca.us
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| Abstract:
Our evaluation team at the San Joaquin Community Data Cooperative has been awarded a two-year grant from the California Wellness Foundation. This grant, entitled Improving Health through Data and Evaluation, centers on providing data and evaluation training to at least 10 non-profits in San Joaquin County in the Central Valley of California. This work started in January of 2009 and we are proposing to conduct a roundtable at this year's AEA conference in order to share our progress with this work. As part of this conversation we will be sharing our overall training approach which centers on four comprehensive components. We will also be sharing our pre-survey, our organizational data and evaluation needs assessment, our training curriculum, and the lessons learned to date. A key part of the roundtable conversation will center on obtaining feedback from attendees as to how we can add to or improve our trainings.
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| Roundtable Rotation II:
Challenging The Dominant Paradigm: Lessons From Evaluators and Their Foundation and Non-profit Partners |
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Roundtable Presentation 275 to be held in Suwannee 21 on Thursday, Nov 12, 10:55 AM to 12:25 PM
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Sponsored by the Non-profit and Foundations Evaluation TIG
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| Presenter(s):
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| Susan P Curnan, Brandeis University, curnan@brandeis.edu
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| Ricardo Millett, Millett & Associates, ricardo@ricardomillett.com
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| Cheryl Grills, Loyola Marymount University, cgrills@lmu.edu
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| Abstract:
This roundtable session presents the approaches taken to evaluation design and implementation in complex community initiatives with the thorough and intense engagement of diverse non-profit community partners, social activists, funders and evaluation experts. In each case, community partners challenged the notion that 'the dominant evaluation paradigm' (complex experimental design including treatment and control groups) was appropriate for social, educational and human service initiatives. They pressed evaluators and funders to consider alternative methods that not only 'prove' the worth of a program, but also help 'improve' the practice. Further, in these days of scarce resources, the case examples will demonstrate how to ensure that evaluators address factors related to context, implementation and outcomes, even when the historical and recent pressure from government and other funders may trend toward measuring 'outcomes only.' Constructive lessons and courageous mistakes will be shared freely.
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