My name is Kylie Hutchinson. I am an independent evaluation consultant and trainer with Community Solutions Planning & Evaluation. I give regular webinars and workshops on evaluation topics for the AEA and CES and Twitter weekly at @EvaluationMaven.
Like all of you, I try to be conscientious about conducting the best evaluation possible. But for many years I felt that my final reports were missing the mark in terms of their utilization potential. Unfortunately, too often evaluation reports end up on the shelves of many a decision-maker collecting dust if they’re not structured and presented properly.
Hot Tip: Attend the AEA eStudy: An Executive Summary is Not Enough: Effective Reporting Techniques for Evaluators. Reporting is an important skill for evaluators who care about seeing their results disseminated widely and have their recommendations actually implemented. This webinar presents an overview of three key principles for effective reporting and engages participants in a discussion of its role in effective evaluation. Attendees will leave this webinar with an expanded repertoire of innovative reporting techniques.
Hot Tip: Attend a Training: The interest in, and attention to, more effective reporting has increased exponentially among evaluators over the past few years. Several other initiatives the AEA has undertaken over the past few years include forming a Data Visualization and Reporting Topical Interest Group (DVRTIG) and the new Potent presentations initiative. Sign up for a 30 minute training on July 17 from 11-11:30 or July 26 from 4-4:30 EST.
Hot Tip: Attend the Ignite Sessions at the AEA Annual Conference. The best ticket at last year’s AEA conference was the Data Visualization TIG’s Ignite session and business meeting, so arrive early this year for a good seat.
Rad Resources:
- Gary Miron’s Evaluation Report Checklist
- Jane Davison’s Editorial: Unlearning Some of our Social Scientist Habits
- 2012 Summer Institute Handout – An Executive Summary is not Enough: Effective Evaluation Reporting Techniques
Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.