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Session Title: Evaluating Technical Assistance Providers: Beyond Effectiveness to Measuring Impact
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Panel Session 923 to be held in La Jolla on Saturday, Nov 5, 12:35 PM to 2:05 PM
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Sponsored by the Cluster, Multi-site and Multi-level Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| John Bosma, WestEd, jbosma@wested.org
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| Abstract:
WestEd is conducting an evaluation of three comprehensive centers, one that serves a single state, one that serves a region, and one that provides content expertise to the other centers. Although unique in how each center operates, WestEd identified an evaluation framework that cuts across all three technical assistance centers. The panel will present a three-tier framework for evaluation focused on 1) the assistance the centers provided, 2) how well the centers provided assistance, and 3) the overall impact of the assistance the centers provided. This framework acknowledges the unique features of each center and examines the effectiveness of each center's technical assistance and respective impact.
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Technical Assistance Centers - Making Sense of How They Work
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| Marycruz Diaz, WestEd, mdiaz@wested.org
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| Valentin Pedroza, WestEd, vpedroz@wested.org
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Technical assistance centers provide myriad services across many projects and goals. Their services may entail presenting research-based practices at a one-day meeting or working directly with clients over several years to develop structures and processes aimed at reaching long-term goals. This presentation will discuss methods for keeping abreast of assistance center activities and working with project staff to ensure activities are captured as part of the evaluation. The discussion will be framed around working with and capturing the unique characteristics of the three centers WestEd evaluates.
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Evaluating the Effective Delivery of Technical Assistance
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| Sharon Herpin, WestEd, sherpin@wested.org
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| Adrienne Washington, WestEd, awashin@wested.org
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Determining how well clients provide their services is a core component of any evaluation. These data can feed formative findings, assess fidelity of implementation, and provide key contextual information necessary for understanding the outcomes of technical assistance. This presentation will explain how research about best practices in providing technical assistance and professional development were compiled into a set of principles and criteria for effectively measuring how well providers perform their jobs. This model goes beyond the simple measures of quality, relevance, and usefulness to capture a more robust view the services provided and the effectiveness of methods used to provide assistance.
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Beyond Effective Delivery - Measuring Impact
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| Juan Carlos Bojorquez, WestEd, jbojorq@wested.org
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| Valentin Pedroza, WestEd, vpedroz@wested.org
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Assessing how well services are provided is an important component of evaluation, but only tells one part of the story. The required quality, relevance, and usefulness indicators miss the bigger picture of what the technical assistance centers accomplished and their effect on recipients. This third tier of the evaluation framework presents a model for documenting accomplishments and measuring change at various levels, such as with individuals, teams, departments, and organizations. The model also looks at different types of capacities and methods for measuring the impact of technical assistance on those capacities.
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