Dear CEA Members,
We wanted to share a great upcoming opportunity below for anyone interested in an Evaluation Institute. The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University is hosting a week-long evaluation institute for staff from nonprofits and public agencies this May.
Evaluation Institute | The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University
If you’ve been wanting to use data and evaluation to strengthen your organization’s work and deepen your impact but haven’t had the time, support, or clarity to make it happen, The Evaluation Center’s Evaluation Institute is for you.
Join us May 11–15 for an intensive evaluation planning retreat at Western Michigan University’s Fetzer Center. You’ll receive the instruction, tools, practice, and guidance you need to develop a meaningful and actionable evaluation plan for your organization or initiative. Importantly, you will have protected time and one-on-one support to create what you need to put your plan into action, including a logic model, evaluation questions, data collection strategy, and more.
Whether you’re looking to jumpstart a new evaluation or strengthen existing practices, our expert team of instructors is ready to meet you where you are on your evaluation journey. The Evaluation Center is widely recognized for its 60+ years of leadership in advancing evaluation theory, practice, and use. Collectively, our instructional team brings more than 80 years of combined experience as evaluation practitioners and educators.
For maximum benefit, we encourage organizations to send more than one person to the Institute. Our pricing structure makes it cost-effective to send up to five people, and registration includes breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Get details about the Evaluation Institute’s structure, pricing, and registration at https://wmich.edu/evaluation/institute
If it sounds like the Evaluation Institute is for you, sign up before 4/25/26 – space is limited! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions.
Lori A. Wingate, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Executive Director
The Evaluation Center
Western Michigan University
lori.wingate@wmich.edu
Evaluator and Evaluation Blogs
Evaluators are blogging! Some focus on evaluation, some do not. Look for the to identify AEA members. If you are a blogger, or on Twitter, send an email to info@eval.org to have your blog or twitter name considered for adding to the aea365.org/blog/ page.
an interview with Dr. Anne Farrell, Director of Research, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
For this edition of The Chicagoland Evaluator, Dr. Rafiqah Mustafaa, Evaluation Coach at Planning, Implementation, Evaluation Org interviewed Dr. Anne Farrell, Director of Research at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Below, Rafiqah shares Dr. Farrell’s valuable tips on how readers might conduct rigorous translational research and evaluation that can be useful for decision-making.
1. Deeply examine the theory of change. This is an essential component of any project because it helps the evaluator or researcher to understand the logic behind the policy or program being examined. To understand this logic, Dr. Farrell suggests asking questions like what is this program/policy trying to accomplish? And who is involved in implementation?These answers provide a realistic idea of how the program operates, the outcomes that matter, and where our work can have the most impact. Too often, measurement of implementation is ignored, making it impossible to know what components are responsible for change (or lack thereof).
2. Seek the perspectives of various stakeholders including the policy’s intended beneficiaries and frontline workers. Inquiry into the effectiveness or impact of a policy or program involves an informed, collaborative dialogue. As evaluators, we have perspectives that shape our inquiry; however, there are many things we don’t know, or can’t know, because of our particular vantage points. It is important that we understand the perspectives of the beneficiaries, frontline workers, and other stakeholders, and use those perspectives to inform our evaluation process. In particular, equity-oriented evaluation efforts need to tap the perspectives of community members and individuals who are intended to benefit from initiatives and programs.
3. Study in depth the policy and its related regulations. Policy-oriented evaluators need to understand deeply the policies of interest in order to align evaluation to inform policy. To do this, evaluators can ask questions like what are the regulations associated with this policy?And how are the intended beneficiaries affected when laws, regulations, or appropriations change? By answering these questions, evaluators are better positioned to provide insightful analyses and relevant recommendations for decision-makers.
4. Focus on collecting data that is needed and useful. Dr. Farrell shared that she has become a measurement “minimalist” as she’s evolved in her career. Very often, heads of agencies, frontline staff, and intended beneficiaries are required to collect and/or report data that is never actually used in evaluation. Policy-oriented evaluators need to have a clear understanding of the purpose of each data point. Knowing this, we can use a more intentional approach to measurement that focuses on collecting quality, useful data, and minimize demands on the individuals involved in the data collection process.
This conversation with Dr. Anne Farrell highlighted that while evaluators bring to their work a range of interests, skillsets, and approaches, it is important to consider how we can be intentional in shaping our work to maximize its utility for policy and practice.
Welcome to our inaugural CEA Newsletter! We are excited to launch this quarterly newsletter to keep you informed about CEA events and interests. The CEA Executive Committee and Board have been busy! Our focus has been to rebuild CEA infrastructure and leadership by:
Please feel free to contact us at connect@evalchicago.org if you have any comments for CEA Leadership! I hope to see you soon at a CEA event!
Best,Asma Ali
Jazzin' at the Shedd with AEA President Leslie Goodyear
Wednesday, 08/22/2018 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM Shedd Aquarium, 1200 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605
The Chicagoland Evaluation Association is delighted to welcome AEA President Dr. Leslie Goodyear to our Annual Event at the Shedd Aquarium. Leslie will be speaking on the AEA 2018 Conference Theme, Speaking Truth to Power, the new Guiding Principles for Evaluators, and other AEA happenings.
Event Page: https://www.evalchicago.org/event-2816271
Evaluation & Community Collaboration Conference
Thursday, 08/30/2018 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM Lurie Children's, 11th Floor Conference Center, 225 E Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611
Representatives from Northwestern, community agencies, and the CDPH to talk about their experiences working together on comprehensive HIV prevention demonstration projects and will include discussion about working together to improve our response to HIV.
Event Page: https://www.evalchicago.org/event-3007373
Becoming Evaluation Ready: Evaluation Training Session for Community Organizations
Wednesday, 09/12/2018 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM Lurie Children's, 11th Floor Conference Center, 225 E Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611
This session is designed for community organizations and will provide information on how to prepare for partnering with an evaluator and/or evaluating their programs. Event Page: https://www.evalchicago.org/event-3007375
Because CEA members have such tremendous talent and experience to share with other members, we are featuring one member post in our quarterly newsletters. If you are interested in sharing your work with other members - email us at connect@evalchicago.org.
and wield a MUCH more powerful evaluation tool
Hi, Amelia Kohm of the Data Viz for Nonprofits here to talk about logic models. The evaluation world is lousy with logic models. You may know logic model by one of its other names such as causal chain, model of change, roadmap, and theory of change. A logic model is really just a humble flow chart with an erudite name. It’s a visual representation of how an intervention or program is supposed to work. And it should help evaluators articulate evaluation questions and select appropriate methods and measures to answer them.
Lessons Learned
But what if we could plug a logic model into the real world? What if we could see how the plan is playing out in reality and make adjustments along the way?
Cool Trick
With data visualization software like Tableau, you can create a “living logic model. The current that animates it is real-time data. A living logic model compares theory to reality by showing progress to date. It also allows you to track the progress of subgroups and individuals. So it helps you to plan, to ask the right questions, and to make mid-course corrections.
A living logic model is more understandable and tangible than a traditional one. The user can scroll over any component in the model to learn more about it. Such descriptions can include photos and web links for interested users. A living logic model shows progress to date. Color saturation indicates the status of each component. And the user can click on any component to see what subgroups might be driving progress, stagnation, or regression.
Play around with this living logic model that I created for a tutoring program to get an idea of its potential. Scroll over components to get more information. Click on components to get data on individual students. Enjoy and please let me know if you have any questions.
- Amelia Kohm, Founder and Consultant, Data Viz for Nonprofits
