8.
The Report: Communicating the Results
Once
evaluation data have been collected and analyzed, and
decisions about implementation quality and project impact
have been made, the evaluation results (or findings)
should be effectively communicated - to both people
directly involved in implementation and to other project
stakeholders.
Evaluation
Purpose and Audience
Evaluation managers should revisit the intended
purpose of the evaluation before drafting the evaluation
report. The purpose of the evaluation - which should
be explicitly described early in the evaluation report
- dictates the audience for the report, which in turn
guides its language, form, and substance.
A
formative evaluation, intended for internal use to guide
project implementation, might not even require a formal,
written report. Findings might best be presented in
the form of a presentation, describing successes and
areas requiring improvement. Any written report might
be expected to be brief, featuring clear tables, bulleted
lists, or short descriptions rather than lengthy narratives.
Make formative evaluation findings as useful as possible
to intended audiences.
A
summative evaluation report (usually required by a funding
agency as a condition for continued support, for example)
will probably be guided by specific expectations outlined
in the Request for Proposals (RFP) or grant award documentation.
Reports of this type might be reviewed by comparing
them to scoring guides that require specific information
or reward the meeting of particular requirements. Funding
agencies might or might not require the submission of
other materials (work products, for example) or a in-person
presentation of findings.
The
best advice for writing this type of report is "follow
the directions." Allow ample time for planning
the report and develop both the document outline and
its content around the specific reporting requirements.
Use key terms consistently, as they are defined in grant
RFP or award materials. Make it as easy as possible
for reviewers to find required information and resist
the temptation to be creative. It is generally not advisable
to provide a lot of extra information, beyond that which
is required.
General
Considerations
Regardless of the primary intended audience,
it might prove valuable to prepare presentations or
reports of evaluation findings tailored to the information
needs of various stakeholder groups, bearing in mind
and respecting the stated purpose of the evaluation.
It
is also important that any evaluation report be clear
to all members of any intended audience group, avoiding
the use of jargon for example, with which they might
not be familiar. The report should include a description
of the project being evaluated, a delineation of evaluation
questions, and an explanation of the methods and measures
used to collect data to address those questions - as
well as the findings arising from the effort.
It
should go without saying that authors should make every
effort to be impartial in their reporting, basing findings
in available data rather than personal biases.
Finally,
errors that might be caught by thorough editing detract
significantly from the message of any evaluation report,
regardless of its purpose and audience. Someone other
than the report's authors should review the document
with an eye toward typographical, usage, or other mechanical
errors.
Dissemination
Summative evaluation reports typically have
a specific date by which they must be submitted to funding
agencies. The importance of meeting these dates should
be obvious but the time required to prepare evaluation
reports may dictate getting an early start toward achieving
that goal. Include report writing in the evaluation
plan, allowing sufficient time for necessary editing
and revision.
The
timing of formative evaluation reports should be tailored
to meet the needs of project managers and other stakeholders,
considering school calendars and other influences that
might make some possible release or presentation dates
better or worse than others.
Reports
should be disseminated only as is appropriate to the
stated purpose of the evaluation. Project managers might
be afforded the option of reviewing and responding to
formative evaluation reports first, before wider dissemination
occurs, to head off potential misinterpretation of findings.
It is not a good idea to distribute evaluation findings
through "back channels" to inappropriate recipients
or in advance of official releases of findings.
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