| 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:
Community Capacity Assessment: The Role of Evaluation in Creating Conditions for Continuous Learning and Accountability for Results |
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Roundtable Presentation 714 to be held in Balboa A on Friday, Nov 4, 2:50 PM to 4:20 PM
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Sponsored by the Organizational Learning and Evaluation Capacity Building
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| Presenter(s):
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| Mary Achatz, Westat, maryachatz@westat.com
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| Abstract:
This roundtable session presents the approach taken to the assessment of capacity to develop, implement and sustain powerful family and community strengthening strategies and tactics in Making Connections, the Annie E. Casey Foundation's multi-site demonstration. The presentation will address three key questions: 1) What does it take to create and sustain the depth and breadth of change needed to achieve durable results for significant numbers of families and children in neighborhoods with enormous challenges? 2) What role can data and evaluation play in building or building upon these capacities in communities and testing their effectiveness? And 3) How can evaluation be used as a tool for continuous learning, and strategic management of complex change processes? Discussion will focus on the explicit and implicit values embedded in the approach.
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| Roundtable Rotation II:
Valuing Local Data and Evaluation Capacity: Lessons from the Annie E Casey Foundation's Making Connections Initiative |
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Roundtable Presentation 714 to be held in Balboa A on Friday, Nov 4, 2:50 PM to 4:20 PM
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Sponsored by the Organizational Learning and Evaluation Capacity Building
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| Presenter(s):
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| Scott Hebert, Independent Consultant, shebert@sustainedimpact.com
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| Tom Kelly, Annie E Casey Foundation, tkelly@aecf.rog
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| Abstract:
As part of its ten-year Making Connections initiative, the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) placed significant emphasis on creating local data and evaluation capacity in the initiative sites. To support the creation of this capacity, AECF used a variety of strategies, including: establishment of 'Local Learning Partnerships'; development of standardized data collection instruments and tracking formats; 'evaluation dress rehearsals'; modeling of effective use of data in cross-site convenings; and on-going site-specific technical assistance from 'evaluation liaisons'. In 2011, telephone interviews were conducted with each site to determine what data and evaluation capacities had been established, and which AECF strategies and supports were most helpful in this process. Perhaps more important, the telephone interviews also explored which capacities would be sustained by the sites after the AECF funding ended, and why the sites valued these capacities. The roundtable will examine the findings from this research and its implications for other initiatives.
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