Evaluation for Learning: Equity and Inclusion Workshop Series
In this workshop series, we explore evaluation for learning. Evaluation for learning is evaluation focused on understanding and improving programs, not assigning a grade/score. Engaging deeply with evaluation can improve your organizational culture, evolve your programs toward equity, and strengthen your relationships with the communities you serve.
Series Outcomes
Umbrella Outcome: Participants use ethical, culturally responsive, and equity-focused approaches to regularly evaluate the process and outcomes of their programs as part of an evaluation cycle.
- Participants implement practices and messaging in their organizations that promote a culture of giving and receiving feedback and use evaluation as a tool for organizational learning and improvement.
- Participants have an expansive toolbox of skills, resources, and ideas to gather and make sense of quantitative and qualitative data in culturally responsive ways—e.g., facilitation protocols, observation guides, self-evaluation tools, collaborative analysis templates, and well-crafted surveys.
- Participants engage community members (defined broadly) as collaborators throughout the evaluation process—i.e., defining success, developing learning questions, collecting data, analyzing and sense-making, and taking action based on learning.
Session Types
Workshops (third Tuesday of the month, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.): Two-hour workshops will consist of an overview of the evaluation topic, grounded in equity. We will share stories from the field, with guests sharing experiences about how the topic can be actualized in their context. Small group discussions will allow us to learn together and brainstorm with peers.
Emergent Workshops (every third workshop session): We are holding every third workshop as a space to explore questions, ideas, and topics that emerge (or that need more time/attention) during the previous two workshops. We will announce the focus area(s) at least two weeks in advance.
Evaluation Office Hours (third Wednesday of the month, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.): Monthly drop-in "office hours" are a virtual space to chat with someone knowledgeable about evaluation to ask questions, discuss your program’s evaluative activities (such as teacher/student surveys or staff observation practices), and work through ideas about how to move forward. Dr. Steven Braun, the OSU Extension Service Outdoor School program’s evaluation collaborator (and co-facilitator of the professional development series), will be there to answer questions, offer resources, and collaborate on solutions. A member of the OSU team will be there as well but will be ready to step away if a participant prefers to discuss aspects of their program evaluation without anyone from OSU present. The Evaluation Office Hours are drop-in style, so you are welcome to show up at any point during the time slot. There will not be a presentation or meeting agenda from the facilitators.
Registration Information
Dates/Times: Dates and times are described above and are listed individually on our Events page. After you register, you will receive an emailed calendar invitation with all events. The series will run for six months, starting in November 2023. If you miss any of the sessions, do not worry! You are welcome to join us at any point in the series, and if you like, you can catch up by watching videos of sessions you miss.
Cost: Free
Format/Location: Zoom
Registration: Complete the online registration form. Register once for the entire series (even if you only plan to attend some of the sessions). Once you have registered, you will receive two recurring calendar invitations via email: one for the workshop series and one for the office hour series. You can accept the calendar invitation for the entire recurring series or for individual events within the series. The calendar invitations will include the Zoom links for joining events. Upon registration, you will also be added to the email list for the series, which will be used to provide updates, reminders, and resources about the series.
Accommodations: Please contact Kristi Backe (kristi.backe@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-5587) to request accommodations for this workshop series.
PDUs/CEUs: Participants will have the opportunity to request Professional Development Unit (PDU)/Continuing Education Unit (CEU) certificates for attending the workshops. We will combine requests across multiple sessions, likely after every three workshops.
Contact: Please contact Kristi Backe (kristi.backe@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-5587) with any questions.
Session Resources
Getting Started: Evaluation for Learning - Nov. 21, 2023
To create a culture of evaluation and learning, we must first ask ourselves: Why evaluate? We’ll begin by examining our values, motivations and desired outcomes. This session will also provide an orientation to key principles and terms that will be used throughout the series.
Outdoor School Mission, Vision, and Values
Outdoor School Self-Evaluation Tools
Method and Data Type: https://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html
Hood, Hopson, and Kirkhart 2015. "Culturally Responsive Evaluation" in Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation, Fourth Edition (Newcomer, Hatrey, Wholey, Eds.).
Participatory Evaluation Resource: https://publicscienceproject.org/
NAAEE eeVAL Website: https://evaluation.naaee.org/
Additional eeVAL Resources: bit.ly/eeVALsite
Identity and Culture in Evaluation - Dec. 19, 2023
Where we stand determines our understanding. Equitable, culturally responsive evaluation centers identity and culture. It must consider our communities and ourselves. During this session, we will explore the importance of self-awareness, humility, and transparency in evaluation.
Emergent Workshop - Setting Evaluation Priorities - Jan. 23, 2024
Evaluation can have diverse purposes and take many forms. How do we decide what’s right for our respective settings? In this session, we will offer ideas for where to start and how to prioritize. We will give 3-4 concrete examples of evaluations conducted by organizations and programs and will invite lots of sharing from participants about your own ideas, questions, and experiences related to evaluation.
- Logic model guidance from MEERA (Once the new eeVAL website is built, MEERA’s page may disappear)
- Social Change Happens from the Inside/Out (blog)
- Results Based Accountability (webpage)
- Frameworks for thinking about your program in parts and as a whole (handout packet shared during the workshop)
- Tools for developing a culture of feedback around instructor and program output quality (examples shared during the workshop)
Co-Construct Evaluation Questions with Your Outdoor School Communities - Feb. 20, 2024
Whose voices will define what quality and success look like? In this session, we will share a participatory approach to co-construct evaluation questions with community, staff, and youth.
- Generative Discussion Questions for Community Conversations (Google Doc) (also available as a PDF)
- Stakeholder Rainbow
- Kirkhart’s A Culture Checklist - excerpt from Hood, Hopson, & Kirkhart (2015)
- Data Equity Deck from Data+Soul, A project of MXM Research Group
- Confluence Project Library
Choosing and Designing Your Data Gathering Tools - Mar. 19, 2024
Every evaluation tool has benefits and limitations. We will consider three main tools for Outdoor School evaluation: surveys, observation, and interactive student activities. In this session, work in small groups to select and begin designing the right tool for your organization’s goals.
Making Sense of the Data We Collect - Apr. 16, 2024
In this session, we will continue to discuss and refine plans for data collection and explore approaches to data analysis, including collaborative approaches that involve outdoor school communities in making sense of the data we’ve collected.