This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at nicoleclarkconsulting.com. Try this out and let me know how it goes for you. On the road to becoming more data driven, and making sense of stakeholder data, organizations use the data to inform their strategic planning process. A strategic plan, in short, is a […]
UX Evaluation and Creative Reporting Webinars [Free Replays]
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at freshspectrum.com. In early December I was given the opportunity to join The Youth Research and Evaluation eXchange (YouthREX) for a couple of Zoom webinars. And, if you’re interested, the replays for both are now live and free to watch. Both webinars are currently available […]
What Makes a Useful Data Story? 5 Questions to Ask
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at depictdatastudio.com. Ready to tell a story with data? Here’s my definition of data storytelling, in case you missed the previous blog post. Great! Let’s remove the guesswork from our graphs. The next step is to figure out which message we’ll highlight. We can’t visualization everything—that […]
Stop confusing being data driven with doing data driven
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at b3consults.com. If I see one well-intended mistake my customers make over and over again, it’s that they confuse “doing data” — having a flurry of data-related activities — with BEING data driven. The organizations that first take the time to address the culture — or being — part of the process are […]
Evaluation Facilitation Series: Facilitation Activity #1 (Making Metaphors)
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at evalacademy.com. Evaluators need to be many things; a good facilitator is high up on the list. We facilitate all sorts of conversations throughout the evaluation process (or at least we should!). Sometimes just posing questions to a group and having a discussion works, but […]
Evaluation Question Examples by Type of Evaluation
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at evalacademy.com. We’ve defined and written about How to Write Good Evaluation Questions before. We’ve even shared some examples of evaluation questions based on the sector or content area. But there is another way to think about evaluation questions. Let’s look at how using different […]
Book Review: Developmental Evaluation by Michael Quinn Patton
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at evalacademy.com. I recently finished reading Michael Quinn Patton’s Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use (2011) cover-to-cover. I am working on a project using Developmental Evaluation (DE) and felt like I wanted to take a deeper dive into my understanding. I […]
Grab the cake, it’s time for a data party! Benefits of and how to run your own
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at evalacademy.com. So you’ve successfully gathered the data you need to evaluate your program. But how do you engage stakeholders and partners to ensure a thorough understanding of the results? A data party could be part of the answer! What is a data party? A […]
Inform, Engage, Inspire, with data visualization.
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at freshspectrum.com. Are you the kind of person who likes to nitpick other people’s charts? I’m really not. I wasn’t there when they decided to use that chart. I don’t know what factored into their decision. As far as their intended audience, I don’t know […]
Your Staff Knows Your Programs Better Than You
This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at nicoleclarkconsulting.com. You know your community better than your funder, and your programs are only successful when staff feel supported and have the capacity to do their jobs. Your staff knows your programs so much in fact, that when you report to your board of […]