Consider evaluation issues up front when launching educational reform initiatives¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The strategy the guide embodies is that states launching new reform initiatives should anticipate evaluation issues at the launch stage rather than after implementation. The page frames the guide's purpose this way: it was developed "to help you consider evaluation issues likely to arise as you launch ARRA-funded initiatives and other educational reform activities." The page does not print the guide's specific evaluation methods, so the strategy is recorded at the level of orientation the landing page states.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A state is launching ARRA-funded initiatives or other educational reform activities for which evaluation questions can be anticipated in advance

Constraints¶

• The landing page does not print the guide's substantive evaluation guidance, so the specific issues it covers cannot be listed from this source

Target Learners¶

• State policymakers and education agency staff

Target Learning Goals¶

• Planning evaluation of educational reform programs

Related Strategies¶

• Prepare for Parental Reactions
• Establish a monthly school implementation team with two days of pre-launch training and ongoing technical support
• Use planning questions rather than fixed prescriptions when designing staff development program features

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Perez-Johnson, I., Walters, K., Puma, M., Herman, R., Garet, M., Heppen, J., Lemke, M., Aladjem, D., Amin, S., & Burghardt, J. (2011). Evaluating ARRA Programs and Other Educational Reforms: A Guide for States. Washington DC: American Institutes for Research; Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/evaluating-arra-programs-and-other-educational-reforms-a-guide-for-states