What is Program Evaluation? Allegheny Intermediate Unit Evaluation, Grants, and Data

What is Program Evaluation? Program evaluation is the process by which organizations or programs examine the implementation, outcomes, and/or results of an intervention to determine whether or not (and to what extent) the intervention contributed to a change.

Evaluation is not the same as… Compliance monitoring Research Budget reports Staff performance evaluations

Evaluations are used to… Improve programs (and ultimately participant outcomes) Demonstrate accountability Fulfill reporting requirements Assess needs Determine feasibility & replicability

Types of Evaluation Program implementation – To what extent was the program implemented as designed? Program outcomes – To what extent has the initiative influenced behaviors or practices? Program impact – To what extent has the initiative influenced student achievement?

Why are individual student data needed? Increases accuracy Feds ask “How do you know?” Increases analysis flexibility Allows more disaggregation options Allows longitudinal analysis Increases awareness and information quality for decision-making at the local level

Data Safeguarding & Confidentiality Data Safeguarding Protocols: –Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) –AIU Data Safeguarding Policy –AIU Evaluators’ data safeguarding plan and practices, including password protection, encryption, restricted access, secure transmission (FTP), confidentiality agreements, destruction of data files Evaluators may collect otherwise confidential or sensitive data at the individual level for approved evaluation purposes AIU observes the Program Evaluation Standards, Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation