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Explore our latest articles, developed by our team of evaluators and special guests, grounded in real-world experience to support your evaluation practice—whether you're a beginner or an expert.

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Evaluation Practice, Evaluation is my main job, I do some evaluation Shelby Corley Evaluation Practice, Evaluation is my main job, I do some evaluation Shelby Corley

Scope Creep: When To Indulge It, And When To Avoid It

Ideally, our evaluation projects would proceed as planned. But as all project managers know, sometimes things change. Actually, most of the time, things change! In some situations, our evaluation approach can be modified to adapt to the changing context, but in others, we have to say no to scope creep.

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Data Collection, I do some evaluation, I'm new to evaluation Bonnie Lakusta Data Collection, I do some evaluation, I'm new to evaluation Bonnie Lakusta

Consent Part 1: What Is Informed Consent

As an evaluator, a big part of our role is to collect data. Sometimes that data comes from administrative databases that require data sharing agreements, but sometimes it comes from people, who need to consent to sharing their information (or data) with you. So let’s talk about what consent is (and isn’t).

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Reporting, Data Collection, Evaluation is my main job, I do some evaluation Eyerusalem Tessera Reporting, Data Collection, Evaluation is my main job, I do some evaluation Eyerusalem Tessera

Data Dictionary: The What, Why And How

It is ideal to have a data dictionary whenever you have quantitative data that will be used and shared by multiple people or groups. Without precise definitions, it is very easy to arrive at different results while using the same dataset. In this article, we focus on how evaluators can (and should) clarify details about the data being used for evaluation. In other words, how and why build an evaluation-specific data dictionary.

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Evaluation Practice, Evaluation is my main job Kristy Madsen Evaluation Practice, Evaluation is my main job Kristy Madsen

Six Lessons From Practicing “True” Developmental Evaluation

I am now finally working on an evaluation that I believe to be true developmental evaluation. The initiative and evaluation is in its early days. Yet, I have already had a very different experience than previous DE (and so-called DE) experiences and learned a number of lessons I’d like to share. In this article, I outline six lessons from my DE experience, including why I think it is true DE.


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Reporting, I do some evaluation, Evaluation is my main job, I'm new to evaluation Shelby Corley Reporting, I do some evaluation, Evaluation is my main job, I'm new to evaluation Shelby Corley

Does My Program Need A Dashboard?

When I hear “we need a dashboard,” what I hear is “we need relatively current information that we can quickly understand and trust, and we want it on one page.” But a dashboard may or may not be the best way to fulfill that need. Here, I’ll clarify what a dashboard is, and what it isn’t, then provide a checklist you can use to decide if your program or organization needs one.


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Planning, Evaluation is my main job, I do some evaluation Shelby Corley Planning, Evaluation is my main job, I do some evaluation Shelby Corley

What To Put In Your Evaluation Contract

Congratulations, evaluator, you’ve landed a client! Or maybe your organization has selected an evaluator to complete an exciting project. Either way, your next step is a contract for evaluation services. In this post, we list some components you should include, or at least consider, in your evaluation contract.

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