Education Project Evaluation - Getting Help

photo of teachers and students gathering samples at a beach

Tool: Evaluation Help Checklist

To help you assess what assistance you need to evaluate your project we've developed this checklist. Read through the skills and click on the response that best matches your ability. Based on your response you will be directed to a resource that may help you. You can also review the Online Help or Evaluator Directory for more guidance.

*Getting Started (General Info)*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	National Science Foundation Evaluation Design W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Toolkit on Evaluation Online Evaluation Resource Library (OERL): Overview My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant (MEERA) Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) Evaluation Services Univ. of Wisconsin-Extension Program Development & Evaluation
I'm not sure what this is	Evaluation Plan
*Setting Goals & Writing Objectives*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	SDSU Educational Technology: Understanding Objectives Penn State: How to Write Clear Objectives SFSU: Learning Objectives
I'm not sure what this is	Goal, Objectives
*Linking Objectives & Outcomes (logic models)*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	University of Wisconsin-Extension: Logic Model W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Logic Model Development Guide Harvard Family Research Project: Learning from Logic Models
I'm not sure what this is	Evaluation Plan, Logic Models
*Identifying Appropriate & Measurable Outcomes*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	Outcome Measurement Resource Network Outcome Measurement in Nonprofit Organizations (pdf)
I'm not sure what this is	Outcome, Objective
*Researching Literature/Finding Evaluation Studies*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative: Reports Harvard Family Research Project: Research Areas Western Michigan University: The Evaluation Center Library ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) Database Google Scholar
I'm not sure what this is	Literature Review
*Setting & Designing Data Collection Methods (Surveys, etc.)*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative: Tools Online Evaluation Resource Library (OERL): Instruments Choosing a Data Gathering Method (pdf)
I'm not sure what this is	Instrument, Item
*Collecting Data*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	Detangling Data Collection Samples & Sampling Statistics Glossary: Sampling
I'm not sure what this is	Sample, Sampling, Random
*Coding & Entering Data for Analysis*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	Coding Qualitative Data (pdf) Data Analysis: Interpreting Response Scales (pdf)
I'm not sure what this is	Coding
*Analyzing Data*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	Statistics Glossary Hyperstat Online Reporting Quantitative Data (pdf) Reporting Qualitative Data (pdf)
I'm not sure what this is	Statistic, Descriptive Statistics, Inferential Statistics
*Reporting Results*
I can do this	Great!
I need some help with this	National Science Foundation: Developing Evaluation Reports Online Evaluation Resource Library (OERL): Reports University of Wisconsin-Extension: Basics of Good Evaluation Reporting (pdf)
I'm not sure what this is	Results

Online Help

DLESE (Digital Library for Earth System Education) Evaluation Services
Evaluation Toolkit
The Evaluation Toolkit (ET) project is designed to help geoscience educators and project evaluators find good resources, get feedback and help with geoscience education evaluation, and share results with one another. Evaluation Services Resources This page contains a variety of resources for use in evaluation and assessment. Evaluation summary documents, raw evaluation data files, and sample evaluation instruments are included.

My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant (MEERA)
This website provides evaluation resources for formal and non-formal environmental educators. Current offerings include professionally selected and reviewed how-to guides and other resources for evaluating environmental education programs as well as a discussion forum. MEERA is made possible by the University of Michigan, USDA Forest Service and the EPA.

NSF (National Science Foundation)
The purpose of this website is to provide NSF grantees, and potential grantees, with an understanding of what NSF means by, and expects from, an evaluation and to direct interested individuals toward useful resources for meeting these expectations.
NSF offers several resources and handbooks on this website including:
The 2002 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation

OERL (Online Evaluation Resource Library)
This library was developed for professionals seeking to design, conduct, document, or review project evaluations. The purpose of this system is to collect and make available evaluation plans, instruments, and reports for NSF projects that can be used as examples by Principal Investigators, project evaluators, and others outside the NSF community as they design proposals and projects. OERL also includes professional development modules that can be used to better understand and utilize the materials made available. OERL's mission is to support the continuous improvement of project evaluations.

Outdoor Education Research and Evaluation Center
This site provides resources about outdoor education and related programs and methods, such as residential camping, experiential education, environmental education, and adventure therapy. The goal is to provide online access to academic resources such as articles, essays, papers, and theses about philosophical, theoretical, research, and evaluation aspects of outdoor education. There is a section dedicated to the evaluation of outdoor and experiential education.

Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative
This site offers a matrix of 75 evaluation tools and resources compiled in July of 2004 by the San Francisco Bay Area Environmental Education Evaluation Learning Community (BEEC). Nearly all the resources can be accessed directly from this page either by clicking the link on the title of the tool, or by downloading the document from the very bottom of this page.

The Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University
The Evaluation Center's mission is to advance the theory, practice, and utilization of evaluation. This site provides evaluation specialists and users with refereed checklists for designing, budgeting, contracting, staffing, managing, and assessing evaluations of programs, personnel, students, and other evaluands; collecting, analyzing, and reporting evaluation information; and determining merit, worth, and significance. Each checklist is a distillation of valuable lessons learned from practice. The site's purpose is to improve the quality and consistency of evaluations and enhance evaluation capacity through the promotion and use of high-quality checklists targeted to specific evaluation tasks and approaches. The Answer Desk is also part of The Evaluation Center website The Answer Desk is an NSF-supported, public e-mail forum for obtaining assistance in the design and conduct of evaluations. You can browse through existing messages or post mail of your own.

University of Texas at Austin, Instructional Assessment Resources
The resources below are designed to guide you in the assessment of instructional technology. Most of the resources are also applicable to non-technological instructional activities, innovations, and programs. The website offers tutorials and tips sheets.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is a granting organization established "to help people help themselves." The website offers great self-help information called toolkits. The evaluation toolkit is designed to provide grantees with guidance, but anyone who is seeking to design an effective, useful evaluation can benefit from this material. For more, visit the website, under the Knowledgebase menu, click on Toolkits, then click on Evaluation.