The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
Web Chat: Using Evaluation to Improve Family Programming in the Early Years
Are you looking for new ways to collect family engagement data? Do you want to learn more about how family engagement programs use data to improve program services? Would you like to better engage families in the evaluation process? How can you effectively use evaluation across multiple programs?
Panelists Debi Mathias, from the QRIS National Learning Network , with the BUILD Initiative; Angela Porterfield and Elizabeth DeCamilla, from Pasco County Schools, Pasco, Florida; Henrietta Munoz and Kasi Cox, from The United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County; and Amy Neal, from The United Way of Greater Cincinnati's Success By 6 Initiative, address these and related questions in a 60-minute web chat, Using Evaluation to Improve Family Programming in the Early Years, on April 29, 2014.
Tips from the web chat include:
- Begin your planning process by thinking how you are going to recognize success at the end of your project.
- Start "small." Then learn and grow with your data. Collecting and analyzing data can be and will be difficult, scary, and messy, but in the end—you'll be a big fan!
- Focus on what is most important to know about the children and families in your program in order to avoid the state of "analysis paralysis."
- Talk with families about continuous quality improvement and the reasons for and importance of data collection. Having a solid relationship and building that trust up front is invaluable.
- Present data that are tailored to your audience. Show challenges but also highlight strengths.
You can access the archive of this web chat at any time. And, to stay informed of future HFRP Interact events, sign up for our mailing list.