Articles of Interest
Collecting “Good” Data for Your Evaluation
An afterschool leader’s job involves
compiling attendance records, parent surveys, behavior reports,
report cards, and standardized test scores. Although it might
seem that you are simply amassing paperwork with these records,
you are actually engaged in the important task of collecting
data. “An evaluation is only as good as the data it contains,” explains
Zena Rudo, a project director with SEDL who has performed evaluations on afterschool
programs for the National Partnership for Quality Afterschool
Learning.
What can you do to make sure you’re collecting “good,” or
meaningful, data? As the current school year comes to a close
and you begin to think about fall programming, it helps to
remember that the same adage that applies to planning an evaluation
goes for collecting the data: start early and get all of the
players involved. “If you’re supposed to collect
data on parent contact and involvement, you’re not going
to be able to remember what happened at the beginning of the
semester or the school year. So, ask your staff to make notes
on parent attendance at afterschool events as well as their
own efforts to contact parents as they happen. Your numbers
will be much more accurate if you do it as it happens,” says
Rudo. She also recommends that program directors hold training
sessions so staff can make sure data collection instruments
like attendance forms, parent comment forms, and other records
are completed correctly.
If your data collection involves getting feedback from people
who interact with your program, consider the tone and language
of the surveys you use. For example, a survey for parents
will probably have a different tone than one given to day-school
teachers. If some of your students’ families speak limited
English, try to make arrangements to have surveys translated.
Finally, be sure to go to a variety of sources for feedback
on your program. “If you want survey data on your afterschool
program’s impact on students, you want to survey afterschool
instructors, day school teachers, parents, and the students
themselves,” explains Rudo.
Read this story in the April
2007 issue of Afterwords. |
