Checklist: Effective Communication About Data

Practice:

Set the stage for purposeful evaluation

Key Action:

Create communication pathways between key staff and evaluators

TOOL: Checklist: Effective Communication About Data

Purpose:

Drawn from interviews with evaluators and district personnel, this checklist can be used to ensure there are clear expectations about what data will be available to an evaluator, what format they’ll be in, and when, how, and from whom they’ll be collected. A good relationship and clear communication between the evaluator and district staff who produce, collect, and disseminate data helps ensure the success of an evaluation.

Instructions:

Review this checklist and reflect on your district’s capacity to address these data-related evaluation tasks.

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Practice:

Set the stage for purposeful evaluation

Key Action:

Create communication pathways between key staff and evaluators

Checklist: Effective Communication About Data District Structures   

Determine the appropriate mechanisms for communicating: conference calls, email, “virtual” meetings, meetings at the district, meetings at conferences. Set a schedule for communication and determine who will need to be present for each. Determine a point person who can access data the evaluator needs in a timely manner and in the proper format.

Before the Evaluation    

Discuss with your evaluator what implementation and outcome data are available, who has them, and in what format they are available. Know which data can be used for the evaluation (e.g., some districts are not able to share data that has been disaggregated by ethnicity, but can use free-and-reduced-lunch data). Share the assessment schedule with your evaluator. Know which students take which assessments and when. Know how those data are reported. Ensure school staff is familiar with what data will be collected and how that contributes to the evaluation.

During the Evaluation    

Create a data collection action plan with the evaluator, showing what data are needed, in what format, and when they will be collected. Regularly review the data collection action plan. Communicate immediately with the evaluator about any changes in the assessments or the assessment schedule. Have the evaluator review and provide comments on any communications to stakeholders before sending them out. Prior to any data collection at a school site, provide all school staff a description of the data collection and how it will contribute to better understanding the magnet program’s impact.

Following the Evaluation    

Work with the evaluator to ensure all necessary data have been collected. Make sure the evaluator and all members of the magnet evaluation team discuss the findings to ensure a common understanding and also discuss how, when, and with whom to share them. Have the evaluator review and provide comments on any communications of results to stakeholders prior to sharing them. At the end of each year of the evaluation, revise the data collection action plan based on findings from the previous year, changes in the available data, the assessment schedule, or the assessments themselves.

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